Broken Chains
by Kyoshu Koi
Summary: AU When Tokyo was hit by the 'Z' plague, six boys bound together with one goal, their survival. Six girls went down a different path: they joined Konoha's ANBU squad and fought the Z's face to face. No one would have ever expected they would fight the disease together. Nor did they think they'd fall in love.
1. Chapter 1: The Chains Have Shattered

I got my inspiration and drive from reading Binds of Duty and Love and A Number of Complications, both of which I suggest you check out. This fic will also have supernatural in it, but for the first few parts, it'll just be romance and horror.

So without further ado, I present to you, Broken Chains: Chapter One, The Link Has Shattered.

Five girls rushed around the corner, all drawing in a quite breath at its current state. Blood splatter dotted the walls, like someone had dipped a paintbrush into a dead corpse and flicked it onto them. Doors to some classrooms were ether broken down or thrown open, showing who tried to hide and who tried to escape. Papers were strewn around, crumpled, ripped, and dotted with red.

Sakura's arm was thrown out, holding the others back.

The pinkette's hand gripped her wooden katana. She had a real one strapped to her bag, stolen from her master's office after the Outbreak at school. Ino wielded a pole with a sharp end, thanks to Sakura ripping it off one the rods suspending a shelf in the school trophy case. The leftover section was strapped to her thigh. TenTen had a metal bat, which she had named Smasher, while Karin and Hinata were barehanded.

And that's why they were here. "We should have left a while ago!" Karin whisper shouted, totally contradiction her previous statement about staying here. "I don't care what I said earlier about them leaving, there are obviously lots of kids still here."

"Hinata needs a weapon." Ino hissed back. "The archery club has the only one she can use." The redhead fumed, but knew not to argue back. The Yamanaka was right; Hinata could only use a bow and arrow. And, at the moment, they needed all the fighters they could get.

Karin, on the other hand, didn't need a weapon, knowing karate, martial arts, and taekwondo. She was also a respected gymnast and knew her ways around the human body. Though she couldn't help people, she knew where to hit to render the brain useless, without having to smash their heads

They continued on towards the club room, being careful with how much sound they made. Sakura had told them that when the brain dies, sight and smell turn off. Processing words isn't possible, but the Z's can still actually hear. Same with taste and touching things, they can't feel pain or identify what things are, but they know they've been that you're there.

So while they may seem stupid at some points, being able to calculate wherever a human is without any sense except hearing and touch is something most wouldn't be able to do. Though using steps still takes a while for them to get up.

Ino had mentioned that if the brain shut off and was then rebooted, kind of like a computer, it would wipe everything and allow access to all parts, not just ten percent. Of course Sakura had interrupted, saying that we do use all of our brains, just not all at once, like the Z's.

They crept down the hall. After changing from their school shoes to their gym sneakers, they hardly made any sound. It'd also be more comfortable during long treks. Karin's eyes went wide. She rushed forward, grabbing Hinata, who had been looking at the ground out of habit. The Hyuga's head shot up, meeting the milky gaze of a Z.

Her own eyes, a similar, lavender white, widened. She took a soft step back, reaching out and grasping Karin's wrist. She nodded in thanks, slowly backing further away. The redhead released her shoulder, and both continued on.

They weaved around Z's, careful not to make a sound. The only other time the girls had been this close to a dead body was when they'd gone to a dead teacher's funeral. And he'd been in a coffin. Approaching the clubroom, Sakura leaned in towards Hinata. "Is the door creaky?" She asked, her voice barely there.

She shook her head, "It w-was oi-oiled a, a few we-weeks a-ago." She replied, her voice just as hushed, "it should b-b-be f-fine."

TenTen bent down, grabbing a thick history book. "We'll still need a diversion." She drew her arm back, holding the textbook like a Frisbee.

"What are yo-?" she stated to ask, a little too late. The brunette whipped the book down the hall. It slammed into a window, glass shattering. All the Z's turned, heading towards the sound.

"TenTen," Ino hissed. "What the hell do you think you just did?"

"She diverted their attention, giving us a chance to get in." Sakura explained, "Though Hinata said it wouldn't make any noise."

The hazel eyed girl shrugged, "You can never be too careful, especially in an apocalypse." She waved her hands in front of her, "Not that I don't trust Hinata or anything.

The said girl smiled, "I-It's o-okay."

Karin walked forward and grabbed the knob. She turned it, but it barely moved. She practically groaned. "It's locked. Hyuga, do you have the key?" Hinata shook her head.

Ino smiled, "Bun-Bun can pick locks." She pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and twisted a gold wire off a necklace. Thrusting them into TenTen's hand, she grinned. "Go for it."

TenTen rolled her eyes. Kneeling down she got to work on the lock. "Where'd you learn that?" Karin asked.

They were surprised about her interest, but none said anything. "Before Sakura and Hinata found me I was in a gang." The redhead kept her mouth shut after that. Two minutes later, TenTen smirked and turned the bobby pin to the side, "We're in."

They all snuck into the room. TenTen shut the door as softly as possible, locking it behind them. She knew from experience that a Z could easily break one down, but it made her feel safer. The brunette grabbed a sweat towel, rolling it up and stuffing it in the crack between the wood and floor. Turning around, she raised an eyebrow, "I expected most to be gone."

Hinata picked up a longbow, inspecting its string, "W-We didn't get a-any members last y-year, and I'm the o-only third year. All the f-first years barely h-h-have enough strength to hold t-the bow up for t-two shots." She slung the bow over her shoulder, starting to put arrows into her bag.

All five girls had emptied theirs, putting supplies in. "I found another first aid kit." Ino said, holding out the red box. Sakura took it from her, depositing some of the more needed supplies into her own bag. TenTen found a few knives, used for cutting the string if it was wound too tight or getting arrows out of wood if they strayed too far from the target. She slipped them into her own bag, looking around for more.

Hinata found a quiver, which she hung off a quiver belt, and quickly filled it with more arrows. She only took a few heavy ones, keeping to the lighter arrows. The more weight you have, the less speed the arrow will gain. This could be said for Hinata, too, not just her arrows. After grabbing a few pouches, full of string and arrowheads, Hinata was set.

In fact, all of the girls were set, even Karin, who, despite her protests about being fine, had gotten a knife from TenTen.

'Just in case.' was her reasoning, when Ino had asked her why. They were never on good terms with Karin, but they did acknowledge her as a rival.

For what, they don't remember, but they definitely knew that if they cared enough to hate her so much, then she'd have an impact on them if she died. Maybe they would cry, maybe they wouldn't, but without the annoying redhead they despise so much, a void would be left in their lives.

The brunette looked down at her bat. Its surface had splashes of blood on it from smashing so many heads. It really wasn't different than killing cattle, since all lives were apparently equal, even the smallest spiders. Still, every swing made her feel more like a villain, more like a murderer. But, then again, if all lives truly were equal, then she'd become one long ago, thanks to Ino constantly yelling at her to 'kill the damn bug!'

TenTen would do better with something long range, preferably a gun, since her dad had taught her how to use one. You don't feel the guilt as much, since there's always a chance the bullet can miss. Sadly, Smasher and her knives were the best she'd gotten.

She just can't figure out how Sakura can do it so easily.

Ino and Karin send the Z's flying, knocking them to the ground with so much force that they crack their heads or break their necks. Hinata'd probably be the same as her, since arrows were projectiles. But Sakura, their sweet pink haired friend, was directly killing them. All of their attacks were chance, 'luck' if you will.

"Bun-Bun." Ino whispered. "Are you okay?"

TenTen nodded, "Sorry, I was just thinking about today.'

"I know, I hope this blood will come out."

"Hey now," She started, "You're really thinking about your cloths now?"

The Yamanaka looked down, "I wash my cloths every day after school. It makes me feel like all the bad things are going away. But blood," she sucked in a break, "Blood's always hard to wash away."

Karin put a hand on their shoulders, "We'll be fine. Okay. Once we get to the forest, I'll take you to a cottage there. I found it once when my parents dragged me and my brother along for a hike."

"You have a brother?" "Can you pick the lock?" "How fast can you find it?" "Is it Naruto-kun?"

"He's technically a cousin, can't bunhead over here do that, about a half hour once we are past the main underbrush, and yes. How'd you know?" Hinata's face matched the Uzumaki's hair.

"We can ask questions once we're in the forest and away from all these monsters.' Sakura stated, once she learned the timing. "You good, Hinata?" She nodded. "Okay, let's go."

They headed into the range, basically the field. It was in the back of the school, the part that was normally a ten minute walk to the forest.

But with Z's lingering all around, it'd probably take an hour. There weren't as many Z's in the back as there were in the front, but it still was a big amount. And fighting them would cause noise and draw more over. They'd learned that the hard way.

Alice, a foreigner that had transferred in a week ago, was sticking with them. She'd made the mistake of tripping on a stair. After letting a small cry out, she was swarmed. Before they could do anything, half her calf was gone, down the throats of classmates.

The attack had started over an hour ago; most survivors were ether trying to get out of the city or at each other's houses, trying to get supplies.

Sakura's group didn't need any though, since Ino had raided the school store. All five of them had three pieces of curry or honey bread, the biggest ones. Ino still had most of the food, since she was the one that knew more about it. Her dad wouldn't cook, and she wasn't that good at making bentos, so she got stuff every day. She'd also taken the liberty to grab the soap bars in the gym showers, along with some re-useable water bottles and a book on how to survive in a forest.

Others had been more worried about getting weapons, finding their friends, or getting out. It had actually been Karin's plan to wait until most kids were gone, knowing the Z's wouldn't linger where there wasn't food for long.

Sakura was surprised that Hinata's quiver didn't bounce when she walked. Despite being extremely timid, the Hyuga wasn't stupid. Knowing it'd make noise and attract Z's; she had strapped the quiver to her right leg. It was still hanging off a belt on her waist, so the weight wasn't entirely on the limb.

All of them tried to be as quite as possible, taking in light breaths and stepping down carefully. A scream broke through the silence. A second year sprinted around the corner, making the mistake of looking behind her. Slamming into a nearby Z, she looked up at it.

The girl made a few chocking sounds, stepping backwards. The blue veins in its milky white eyes bulged, signaling it was going to eat. Pouncing on her, the Z let out a bellow, others rounding the corner.

TenTen's mouth opened, letting out a dry gag as it sunk its teeth into her shoulder. All five girls were paralyzed; watching as it threw its head back, ripping a chunk of flesh off. It gobbled the meat down in a second, biting the wound once more. The second year screamed again, finally noticing them. "Help me! Help me!"

Ino took a small step forward but was stopped by Sakura. "She's already done for." Her voice was below a whisper. The two Z's that had been pursuing the second year bent down, one went for a thigh, the other for the abdomen. She threw her body side to side, but their grip stayed strong.

"You know well how bad their bites are, at least two, three inches deep. And that much ripped off, she'd have to lose her arm. She wouldn't be able to walk with that leg, ether."

Hinata's eyes watered. The Z eating away at the girls shoulder hit the bone, yanking it out. Karin's head whipped to the side, not being able to stand it anymore. It moved to her neck, pausing millimeters before her flesh, causing the girl to thrash around harder.

It seemed to grin, opening its jaw and sinking its teeth into her skin. The Z threw its entire body back, taking half the neck with it, killing the girl instantly. Silent tears streamed down Hinata's face.

Ino put a hand on her shoulder, "Let's go." She whispered.

* * *

><p>Far up in the heavens, a goddess smiled, "My my, looks like the chains of fate have finally snapped."<p>

Another chuckled, "And it looks like only the strong and psychopathic will survive."


	2. Chapter 2: Them or Us!

Okay, I got my hair in a ponytail, my honeydew EOS on, and J-pop blasting in my ears, let's get this puppy updated! Here's Broken Chains: Chapter Two, Them or Us.

Kiba rounded the corner behind the school building just in time to see a wisp of yellow cross into the forest. His eyes traveled down to the dead second year. Shikamaru stared down at shoulder and winced. Suigetsu gagged, "Pulled the bone right out, huh."

"She must have been the one screaming for help." Neji concluded.

"Taiyo Matsuri," Sasuke commented, "She was the school treasurer."

"If she was screaming for help, why didn't anyone help her?" Naruto asked. "That's just cruel."

"That's not true." Neji said, "she could have been screaming even if there weren't people there."

"Why would she do that."

"In hopes of someone coming to help." Suigetsu explained. "If it were me, I wouldn't have helped. She was most likely already bit. You can't do anything once that happens."

"How do you know that."

"Am I the only one here that actually watches the movies?" Silence, except for a few screams of teens near the school entrance. The albino groaned. "You get bit, you're done for. End of story."

"We already know that." Neji stated.

"But did you know it before today." The Hyuga was silent.

"Seriously," Naruto said, "It must be hard for knowing that someone could have helped you."

Kiba snorted, "She must have died feeling pissed." Sasuke gave a 'hn' of agreement.

Neji sent him a glare, "More like she must have died in great pain."

The Inuzuka shrugged, "Isn't that how most people die nowadays?"

* * *

><p>The forest was eerily silent. April rain had washed most of autumn's leaves away, leaving slick, wet moss. Ino glanced to the side, her nose scrunching up when she saw termites and beetles roaming the inside of a rotten tree.<p>

Karin looked down at her watch, an hour and thirty nine minutes since a girl had come screaming into their math class, shouting about how Iruka was being munched on by the janitor.

She'd snorted at first, wondering why the girl would be so worked up seeing the teachers being inanimate. But pieces started clicking into place. The janitor was male, Iruka was definitely straight. He was also extremely caring about his job; he'd leave his sex life away from school. The look on horror of the girls face was pure, and if you squinted, you could see some dark spots on her red skirt.

She was a first year, a different wing than the rest. If she had too, she'd go to one of her teachers.

Fat tears had started to slide down her face, "we're all gonna die." A scream had then echoed throughout the halls. In that moment, their lives had changed forever.

"K-Karin?" Hinata asked. "Y-You look w-w-w-worried."

The red-head looked over at the girl, her eyes softening. She'd always liked Hinata more than the others, back when they were friends. She was soft spoken and kind and never ever, ever wanted anyone to get hurt. It must have been eating away at her that she couldn't save a lot of people. "I'm fine, just… thinking back on today."

The Hyuga slowed down slightly, stepping into pace with Karin. "D-Do you w-w-want to t-talk about i-it."

She shook her head, "No thanks." Hinata looked down, the rainbow shin in her pearl-ish lavender eyes seemed to dim. Closing her own orbs, Karin let out a soft breath, "I'm sorry."

"W-What?"

"I'm sorry about being mean, to all of you. I just wanted to fit in. And when Yuuri moved to Kyoto, I moved up the latter. If I stepped down, I'd be bullied. So I played along. I, I guess I kind of lost myself along the way."

"I understand." Hinata said, surprisingly stutter-less. "Society has always been cruel." She gazed up at the trees towering above them, sunlight poking its way through their leaves. "Hopefully, this will bring everyone closer."

Karin nodded, "Yeah, hopefully."

Hinata blushed, "I-I just s-said some-something r-r-really embarrassing."

Ino glanced back at the two. "Not that you mention it," she said to herself, "Karin was never really mean to Hinata."

TenTen scoffed, "You just noticed that? Even when we were friends, Karin was always the kindest to Hinata. I think it's because she reminds her of her own younger sister."

The blond raised an eyebrow, "Karin has a younger sister?"

"Had." She corrected. "Before she got adopted by her aunt and uncle, she was at the orphanage. Her family got in a car accident, she was the only survivor."

Ino's mind wandered back to the day the redhead had betrayed them. _'I'm sorry, but, I, I don't want to be alone, not again.'_

Sakura ducked under a branch, "That makes sense. We always had somebody, all of us. We were fine with being bullied or ridiculed. But for someone who lost everything," she shook her head, "I don't think it'd be that easy just to brush it off." Both girls nodded in agreement, walking forward.

They continued on for a while, not really doing much. Ino had started to practice twirling her pole and swinging it to the side. The way she used it reminded TenTen of an anime she had once watched, something of the dead, maybe?

She tossed her bat up in the air, letting it do a three sixty before catching it by the handle and throwing it upwards again. Sakura was a few feet in front of them, rubbing some of her hair. If TenTen squinted, she could see the droplets of red in her friends' hair.

Looking down at her own cloths, she tried to count how many splotches of blood she saw. She looked and felt like she'd just been dumped in tomato sauce. She really was hoping the cabin had a washer. And some spare clothes.

Shorts would be appreciated. Though, TenTen had to say, the person who said moving around in a skirt was had must had have been on crack. It doesn't restrict you, and you can move around freely. Besides, Z's couldn't see, so it didn't matter if she flashed them or not.

"Karin!" Sakura called back, "We hit the clearing, where do we go?"

The said girl turned from her conversation with Hinata, "Do you see the oak with the ivy on it? Go around and head straight, we should hit it." Hinata stepped onto the grass, looking around. It was weird, the trees made a perfect circle around it. Not even a single branch or leaf was on the ground.

Sakura noticed it too, but just continued on around the tree. She pulled a branch out of the way. Ino trudged on after her best friend, not noticing when she let go of it.

The wood smacked into her nose, knocking her back a step. She bumped into TenTen, who, in turn, fell on her butt.

Her back slammed into Hinata's left shin, and the girl buckled to the ground. She flailed around, accidently smacking Karin in the side of her knee. The Hyuga tried to grab on, her fingers clamping on the skin behind the joint. Karin crumpled, doing a two-hitter on the ground; her behind smacking into the edge of the clearing, her back following.

It was the perfect definition of 'domino effect.'

Except for the fact a hollow sound was made when Karin's head hit the ground.

All five girls went quite. "Did you hear that?" Sakura asked.

Ino nodded, "I'm pretty sure that wasn't Karin's head."

"Hey!" She snapped, peeling herself off the grass.

"Yeah," TenTen said, "It sounded like… metal." She got up, waltzing over to the clearing once more. Karin ignored her, helping Hinata up.

Sakura followed the brunette. Bending down, she knocked on the grass.

Silence.

Ino grabbed onto the very branch that caused all this, hauling herself up. "Must have been our imaginations."

Karin snorted, "Push the grass to the side, it probably muffled the sound."

TenTen pushed the green strands aside, knocking. A faint thunk resounded. She looked at Karin, shock on her features.

"How?"

"It's how my uncle hides the entrance to out cellar, so no one can break in. Apparently it happened once, and someone tried to kidnap my cousin."

Hinata gasped, "Did you find them?"

She shook her head, "He was wearing a mask."

"Back to the fact that there is metal underneath the grass." Ino said.

TenTen pondered for a moment, then it hit her. "Sink holes!"

Sakura just looked at her, "Huh?"

"Fifteen years ago, sink holes appeared near the school and inside the forest, they must have used steal or something to cover them up."

It clicked for the pinkette, "That's why there aren't any trees growing, even if sod was put down, it wouldn't be deep enough."

"Mystery solved." Ino stated, "Can we find the cabin now?"

TenTen pouted, "Fine."

* * *

><p><em>What idiot lets an infected kid on a cramped bus?<em> Temari got up and pushed the guys who were trying to open the emergency door out of the way. Big, red letters spelled 'twist and push.' The dirty blond pulled back her leg and whacked the glass on the door with the heel of her combat boot.

It shattered like, well glass.

A moan behind her signaled that the Z had somehow made it back this far within seconds. The dirty blond groaned in frustration. She grabbed the Z's head. It groaned. Well, at least it could beg for mercy.

She slammed it's forehead into the window pane. Blood splattered. Pushing it to the side, the skull scrapped off all excess shards. Multi-tasking baby!

Temari pushed the body into the street. It didn't move. She propped herself up, making sure not to grab the sides where that she didn't clear the glass.

Temari glanced around, no one outside the cars. She rolled her shoulder, making sure the backpack was still there. Then, she jumped out. Some may say she's crazy, entering an apocalyptic world. But to her, this was normal. Everyone was already a monster; they just didn't look like it. Now, they did.

Temari sighed, "Now, where to go?"

* * *

><p><em>"What do you mean you're leaving the project?!" Karin shrieked.<em>

_Deidara looked at Hidan, Hidan looked at Kakuzu, Kakuzu looked at Zetsu, Zetsu looked at Kisame, Kisame looked at Itachi, Itachi 'hn'ed as Sasori, Sasori looked at Pein, Pein then looked at Konan. "You explain." He grunted._

_She sighed, "We don't think that this is for the best. We've been working on this for over three years, you've only been here for three months.'_

_"Four!" The redhead shouted, "Four months!"_

_"You've only recently entered middle school. What about your friends?"_

_"They- They won't find out!"_

_The older woman pinched the bridge of her nose. She was starting to get a headache from all the yelled. Konan took a deep breath, "The dead cannot be brought back," she stated._

_"Yes, they can be! You've been working on this for a long time! You should know that."_

_"From working here that long we found out it's not possible. What Orochimaru is trying to do is impossible!"_

_"It's not!" Karin whirled towards the others. "What about the people you were trying to bring back?!" They all found a sudden interest in their shoes._

_"Most of us joined after we lost someone important, but that was a while ago," Konan explained, "We've moved on. You have to do the same."_

_Karin's eyes seemed to burn with emotion. Anger and vengeance fueled the flames, yet an immense sorrow seemed to glaze over them, it was kind of similar to watching a fire behind glass. Her eyes crystalized, making it all look like the surface of untouched water. Water, then ice, then flame: it was as if she was trying to hold anger back with sadness._

_She took a breath, small and fast, like she was afraid if she drew in too long it would shake. "You'll regret this. When we find a way, you will regret this."_

_"Maybe, but that won't be any time soon."_

Karin shoot up, the blanket slipping from her shoulders. It piled in her lap, moving up and down with her breaths. She looked up, seeing the girls all having a cup of coffee at the tale. They'd all changed from their grimy clothes.

Hinata had on a white, one-sleeved top with a lavender knee length skirt and white ballet flats. Her hands were covered with fingerless gloves, also white, probably for using the bow and arrows. TenTen had taken a different route, sporting a forest green Chinese style top, complete with the three line-like buttons near the collar bone area, and faded short shorts with torn up leggings underneath. She was in the middle of trying to kick Ino in the shin, though converse don't normally do much damage.

The brunette noticed Karin, "Hey, come join us! We have about a cup left."

Ino snorted, "Whose fault is that?" The Yamanaka was wearing a grey/blue halter with jeans and flat-foot sandals. Karin couldn't help but smile. She'd really missed these times.

Sakura just shook her head. She hadn't really changed much. She'd switched the red school skirt out with a black one but kept the white button up blouse and red tie. Her black sneakers laces had also been replaced by red ones. "We can always make more." Turning to Karin, the pinkette told her where they'd found the clothes.

Karin nodded, following Sakura's instructions. "By the way," TenTen called after her, "These are the only clothes we'll have for a while, so pick an outfit you like."

Minutes later, she returned wearing a white tank with a black mini skirt and leather jacket. She'd found these cool, black gym-shoe like boots that went up to her knees, so she'd replaced their blue laces with white ones to match.

"Ohhhhhh," Ino said, handing her a cup of coffee, "nice."

Karin took the mug, sending the blond a hint of a smile. "So," she asked, walking up to the table and sitting down, "what are we going to do?"

Sakura looked at TenTen, who nodded. "I think that we should go into the city." The redhead did a spit take into her cup.

Ino laughed, "Nice one, Forehead. So, what are we gonna do?"

"Go into the city." TenTen dead panned. "Hinata agreed with us, and I'm pretty sure Karin understands."

"Karin does not understand," the said girl snapped, "the city is too dangerous. It's safer here."

"Yeah," Ino said, "Karin's right."

TenTen leaned towards Hinata, who had a look of horror on her face, "Did she just say what I think she did?" The Hyuga nodded, speechless.

"We have tons of resources here. Streams, shelter, food, wood for heating fires. There's even clothes that fit us!" The blond screeched. "Why the hell do we need to leave?"

Sakura rubbed her temples, "The Z's are there."

"Precisely!" Karin snapped, "That's why we don't go."

The pinkette shot up, slamming her hands on the table, "You don't get it! Both of you don't get it!" She shouted, "News check, there are two ways for this to be stopped: ether the virus and its hosts are eliminated or we are!" Everyone was silent, letting the knowledge sink in.

"Got it?!" she continued, "It's them or it's us!"


	3. Chapter 3: We're Doomed

Temari wasn't exactly a fan of the forest. Everything was always screeching or humming and the branches were bitches in the form of wood. The desert was more her style; harsh, hot, and hellish. Not to mention unforgiving. And, the desert didn't have mosquitos.

The blond swatted at her arm, scowling for the millionth time that morning. She stared at the insect on her hand, one of its tiny legs twitching, then flicked it off, sending what was left of its life to insect heaven. Serves it right, trying to suck her blood. Temari had made camp in a clearing a few hours after the sun set and was up before it had risen.

Dawn was also a bitch. Sorry branches, but you're not alone in the top of Temari's 'To Kill' list.

Her brothers had always said she was a demon in the morning hours, especially Kankuro, who was normally the victim of her drowsy rage. Gaara said it was even worse when it was that time of month, no one could walk in front of her without getting their eyes clawed out. Poor, poor Kankuro, he never knew what was coming.

The giant ball of gas and flame painted to sky a pale orange and illuminated the clouds with pink. It truly was an amazing sight, especially when what little light the dawn gave made the trees silhouettes. It would have been a perfect morning, no; it was a perfect morning… except for the fact that it was the first full day of the apocalypse.

Her eyes caught the sight of smoke, billowing out from the top of a skyscraper. Temari just shook her head, "Humanity is doomed if Tokyo's already falling apart at the seams."

"I'll say."

Temari leapt nearly a foot in the air, "Holy shit," she breathed out, trying to calm her racing heart.

"Sorry if I scared you." The blond turned to face the owner of the voice. A girl with auburn hair and stormy grey eyes smiled sheepishly. She stuck out a hand, "I'm Haredi Yuuri."

Temari did a once over of the girl. "Temari," she replied, reaching for the limb.

"Nice ta' meet cha', Temari." Yuuri smiled, fingers curling into the form of a gun. She raised her hand, pointing it straight at Temari, "Now," her eyes narrowed, "tell me all you know."

The blond snorted, "Ok, you seriously don't think that can hurt me?" Something whizzed past her, slicing into the skin on her cheek and imbedding itself into the tree next to her. A trickle of blood dripped down her face.

Temari raised a hand to the wound "How?" She muttered to herself.

Yuuri rolled her eyes, "Don't tell me you've never heard of chakra?" She didn't let her answer, "Anyways, I need you to tell me where Suna is."

"And if I refuse."

She tilted her head to the side, grinning like a madman, "Well, I've always wanted to test out how many times a person can be shot before they die."

Yep, society is totally doomed.

* * *

><p>Suigetsu's mind wandered. He stared up at the ceiling of the random apartment they'd broken into.<p>

_"Idiot's. They're all idiots." The redhead was fuming, practically pacing a hole in the Hozuki's floor. _

_Suigetsu raised an eyebrow, "And why are you here again?" _

_"You're my age, a first year! You understand, don't you?" _

_"Understand?" _

_"That we're so close to finishing the project and bringing everyone back!" _

_The albino sighed, "I'm only here because my family is one of the people investing in this project and they want one of us to watch Orochimaru in case he works with the Mafia overseas." _

_"What would the Yakuza want with a way to revive the dead? Scratch that, why would they send their only heir?" _

_"Second heir," he corrected, "and it's because I need to learn about stuff like this. Working with people, finding their weaknesses, helping us earn money." _

_Karin gasped, "You're going to sell it on the black market." _

_"Bingo." _

_"Why can't you just reveal it to the public?" _

_"The government would confiscate it. They wouldn't want anyone bad coming back and stuff. For someone who wears glasses, you're not very smart." Karin's fist made contact with his skull._

_Suigetsu's head snapped back up, violet eyes shooting her a glare, "Why do you always hit me?"_

_"Why do you always provoke me?!" She shot back. The Uzumaki began to let out a string of swears, storming out of the room in a flurry red._

"Oi, Suigetsu, you up?" Kiba whispered from the cot next to him. The said man sat up to find the Inuzuka kneeling next to him.

"Whadyawant?" He slurred, still half asleep.

"Help me wake the others up."

"Hell no," Suigetsu whispered, rolling on his side and pulling the quilt over him. No one wants to deal with a group of teenagers in the mornings, especially a group that consisted of an emo hell bent on getting back at his brother, a lazy-ass genius who looked like a freaking pineapple, a white eyed kid who believes everything is up to fate, and an overly optimistic blond ball of energy.

A kick to his back had him shooting off the futon and aiming a punch at the brunette.

Kiba ducked, growling, "You little- What'd I do?"

"You fuckin' kicked me, jackass," he spat, throwing another punch. They began rolling around the room in a flurry of white, brown, and red.

Barely thirty seconds later, Neji woke up. He wasn't exactly happy. He looked over at his two companions; the albino perched atop the Inuzuka, fist ready to slam into his tattooed cheek. The latter was attempting to choke the other, muttering enough swears to make his sister wash his mouth with a bar of soap.

"If you make any more noise, a Z's going to bust down the door and eat us." It went eerily silent; after all, you didn't want to piss off a Hyuga.

Suigetsu got off Kiba, sending him a glare. He got the message loud and clear, this isn't over. If it was a few days ago, he would have been pissing his pants at the idea of getting the Yakuza's son pissed off. But apocalypses can change many things, including who was in charge of the streets.

Shikamaru yawned, sitting up. He took in the room, Suigetsu and Kiba sending each other deadly looks. Sasuke followed, sending Kiba a glare. "You're gonna get us all killed."

Naruto shot up, a grin on his face. "Mornin'!" He shouted.

"Scratch that," Shikamaru said, laying down and pulling the covers over his head, "Naruto's gonna get us killed."

"Hn."


	4. Chapter 4: Mark of the Cursed

Suigetsu snapped another Z's neck, sending it to the ground. Shikamaru had found out that you just had to cut the brain off from the body, whether it be decapitation or breaking the bone.

Neji spun, his katana cutting the tendon of a nearby Z's leg. It buckled, skull slamming into the concrete. The Hyuga let out a breath, turning in time to see Naruto smash a Z's head in with his trusty bat.

Kiba kicked at a Z's face, sending it toppling down a set of stairs. On the way it hit another one and they both slammed into the concrete below. Shikamaru whistled from his perch atop the playgrounds monkey bars. "Good one."

"Shut up," he smashed a pipe into yet another infected thing, "and get down here and help."

"You wouldn't want one of the only smart people to die." The Nara taunted. A Z groaned reaching, for one of his legs. Shikamaru sighed and pulled out a gun. "This is troublesome." He pulled the trigger and the bullet lodged itself in the targets brain.

He shook his head, watching the body crumple onto the floor. "Oi, Sasuke!"

The Uchiha pulled his pole out from a Z's eye socket. "What?"

"We have to head further in. Others are heading out, so will the Z's. The center of the city is the safest, at the moment," he mumbled that last part, though all five boys heard him.

Seven minutes later, the park was filled with dead bodies, the unmoving kind. Suigetsu sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I'd suggest Tokyo tower, no one's gonna be there."

"Wait, wait!" Naruto exclaimed, "Are we really gonna head further in."

Neji nodded, "Yes, and please, quite down." The Uzumaki gave a sheepish grin.

"How are we going to get there though?" Kiba asked.

"Well," Shikamaru started, "the subways down, tons of people will be there."

"And traffics never been worse," Suigetsu added.

Naruto groaned, "We're gonna have to walk, aren't we?"

"Hn." Sasuke turned around and threw a hand over his shoulder. All five boys shrugged and followed.

"Have I mentioned I really hate you, teme?"

"Around three times a day since we were five."

"Oh, well, I hate you."

"Dobe."

"Teme!"

"Shut up!" Naruto winced at Neji's outburst. The Hyuga really was starting to scare him. He opened his mouth to start and yell at them some more when a blast from above went off.

They all looked up at the eruption. Naruto gaped, pointing skyward, "It's green!"

"No shit, dumbass."

Karin raised a finger to her eye, wiping away a tear. "Shit," she breathed out, eyelids snapping shut as she pressed the back of her wrist against the socket, "not a good idea."

A tap on the shoulder had here turning towards Hinata, who handed her a damp cloth. "Thanks," the Uzumaki mumbled, dabbing at her eye.

Ino snorted, "You should know not to touch your eye after you cubed an onion."

"And you should know that's not the right way to cut a carrot," she spat, pointing a finger at the orange vegetable, placed so it was sticking up in the air like a pole.

Ino's face mimicked Karin's hair, "Why you little-!" At that moment, Sakura took the liberty of hitting them both with a frying pan.

"We are making an important meal in order to keep our strength up for when we travel to the city," she sent them each a look, "and fighting won't help it get done faster."

"Yeah, yeah," Ino said, turning around to start cutting her carrot, "forehead."

A pink eyebrow twitched. TenTen sighed, watching as her blond friend ran from Sakura. Hinata finished Ino's carrot, sliding the slices into the big, pot on the stove. Karin's onion followed soon after, along with the potato's TenTen had been halving.

The brunette sighed, grabbing a ginger ale, and heading out to the back porch. Popping the tab, she brought the can to her lips before tilting it back and downing the drink a one go. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Ino appeared behind her with a mountain dew.

TenTen had never really been a fan of citrus like drinks, but Ino loved them. To the Yamanaka, Coke, Pepsi, and even root beer were disgusting. It was one of the many things they disagreed upon.

TenTen raised an eyebrow, "I thought you only had soda one a week

"It's the apocalypse, bun-bun," she looked down at her drink, "besides; we need to get lots of calories in before we leave. The body turns to stored fat when it needs energy."

The corner of her lip turned up into a small smile, "You spend too much time with Sakura."

"I know," she groaned.

"What about me?"

"They were saying that blonde over there is picking up on your 'I want to be a doctor'-ness," Karin said, leaning against the door frame. She tossed Sakura's a cherry soda, taking a sip from her own fruit flavored drink.

"Thank yo-" she stopped herself, leaning on the railing of the porch and groaning "god, why are you changing so much!"

Ino snorted, "Tell me about it."

Karin rolled her eyes, "Trust me; I'll still bully you at any chance you get. But, we're a team now, aren't we?"

Hinata walked up, carrying a grape Fanta with both hands, "Y-Y-You're ri-right, K-Karin."

TenTen smiled, "We should give ourselves positions, you know, like we used to do when we found one of those 'who's you apocalypse team' things online."

Ino's hand shot up, "Sakura's the medic!" The pinkette's mouth opened and closed, making her look like a fish. Ino looked around for any objections, "It's settled."

"I don't have any experience!" Sakura protested.

"You know a lot of stuff, though."

"I can't believe I'm saying this a second time, but Karin's right."

Sakura sighed, "Fine," she looked around, "Karin's semi-smart," the Uzumaki sent her a glare, "so she should be the strategist; TenTen knows how to use a gun, so she's our sniper or whatever. I'd say Ino was the loud person who got us all killed,"

"Hey!"

"But she knows how to fight," putting a hand to her chin, she thought for a second, "Karin, you take over."

The redhead nodded, "Hinata's long range, but I have a feeling TenTen is too, it's actually kind of dangerous to have her up and close. If we got her a gun, we'd be good. Sakura, Ino, and I are all close range, so we could cover them both, but…" she trailed off.

A few seconds passed before she sighed, "For now, you two should probably lay low and let us do the work."

"I can fight close range, but I have lots of weak spots and chances, and I'm kind of slow. I guess I can go along with it." TenTen wasn't a fan of the idea, but she also wasn't exactly happy to have to get close and personal with dead bodies.

Hinata raised a trembling hand, "I k-know a l-lot about the c-c-city and places we could s-s-s-stay."

Ino smiled, "That's good, it's way too dangerous to sleep on the streets.

CRACK!

All five girls looked up, staring in awe as the firework fizzled out, its green sparks flying in every direction.

Karin watched as they slowly dispersed, trying not to laugh, "Are they idiots, the Z's will flock there."

"But why?" Ino asked.

Sakura pushed off the railing, "We're gonna find out."

Yuuri smiled, "A signal, they're sending out check points."

She looked down at Temari, who was wiping away some blood from the corner of her mouth. Shaking legs pushed off the ground as she put a hand on a nearby tree to steady herself. The blond looked at her, spat out some pink saliva, then proceeded to flick her off.

The auburn haired girl just rolled her eyes, pointed finger twitching. Temari's entire body went ridged. Teal eyes sifter upwards, having been staring at her legs in hopes it would make them move, "What did you do?"

"Chakra strings, it's kind of weird that you don't know what they are, considering one of your brothers is very proficient in using them. It's said that one in three children of clans don't have the ability to use chakra, maybe you're one of them. Or," she continued, "maybe you just can't see it, but can still use jutsu's.

"Either way, if you can't tell if something is being cast, you can't avoid it in time. Only very few of the Hyuga can see chakra, but most can still manipulate it. But, you're a Sabaku, so…" she trailed off.

Temari's eye twitched in annoyance, "What the hell is chakra?"

Yuuri sighed, "It's something that descendants of the goddess of insanity, Pauchi Kamuy, and the goddess of spiders, Yushkep Kamuy, have within their bodies. Pauchi's clans are the Uchiha, Nara, Sabaku, Inuzuka, Haruno, and my clan, the Haredi's.

"Yushukep's clans are the Hyuga, Uzumaki, Hozuki, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Aburame, those guys are the closest to her since they work with bugs, yuck!" she made a face.

"Anyways, you're a Sabaku, so even though you have chakra, there's the chance you can't use it or just can't see it, it probably the latter one, since you obviously can't see the glowing blue string I have attached to your abdomen."

Temari looked down again, seeing nothing but a dirty, bloody high school blouse and skirt. There was a slight tugging feeling in her stomach, which was where the 'chakra sting' was supposed to be. Looking back up at the grey eyed girl, she frowned, eyebrows furrowing.

Yuuri shook her head, "I should kill you here and now, but you seem like you'll be useful to me," she release the string and Temari slid down the trunk of the tree till she hit the grass, "you, will be my eyes and ears within Suna and Konoha, there are many chakra signatures about an hour's trek from here, just keep going west."

She smiled, eyes lighting up with a mischievous fire, "I always hated those girls, their clans never even told them about anything yet they had more potential than be, even that slut, Karin. Anyways, help them get to Konoha, or Suna, it doesn't really matter to me since they're real close to each other.

"Contact me when you get to ANBU level, you will be joining the Shinobi forces, and then, well, don't get found out."

"And why should I help you?" Temari asked.

"You're brother, Gaara, was it, was in a coma until a week ago. I placed a seal on him, and on Kankuro, I can kill them both if I please, and don't you dare think I can't, after all," she looked down at the Sabaku, watching as the Mark of the Cursed slowly burned into the skin of her palms, "I can do the same to you as well."

Temari sucked in a breath at the sudden pain in her hands, clenching her fists in attempt to stop the burning feeling. "Why don't you do it yourself" she ground out, "you have chakra after all."

Yuuri shrugged, "As Pauline Phillips once said, 'People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes.' I'd leave now if I were you, they're heading out at one and it's already eleven." She tossed her a pair of fingerless gloves, "Good luck, and may Pauchi-dono be with you."

And with that, Haredi Yuuri disappeared in a poof of smoke. Temari winced, looked down at her palms.

呪い

The symbol was a deep, rich violet, the color jumping put against her skin. With shaking hands, Temari took the gloves and pulled them on. She grabbed at the bark of the tree, pulling herself up, "An hour's trek, huh?" She asked herself, looking at the expanse of tree's in front of her.

She wasn't a fan of deceiving others, but for her family, Temari would anything.


	5. Chapter 5: Insane Spiders

Pauchi couldn't suppress the smile that appeared as she watched her sister pace around the room, "Having problems, sister dearest?"

Yushkep whipped around to face the figure that popped, literally, into her house a few minutes ago. Her red eyes narrowed into a glare. With hair that resembled spider thread, long, pearlish in color, and freely moving around like string, and pale, pale skin, she was truly beautiful goddess.

Scarlet marks that looked like eyes, around a centimeter wide, started near her tear ducts, went to right under her bottom lids, then appeared again on her temples. She snarled, revealing extremely pointed, not to mention white, canines, and a black tongue.

"Shut it!" She snapped, before resuming her previous position; creating a hole in her living room floor.

"You know," Pauchi said, "you're supposed to be kind to your guests." Even if they came uninvited, but that was a common thing among the gods, since they could pop up anywhere in their realm.

"Yeah, well Ae-oine wasn't talking about you when she drilled us on manners," she turned on her heel, pointing a long, manicured finger at the goddess.

The black haired, green eyed woman tilted her head to the side, showing the scars from where she tried to kill herself in her youth. Actually, almost everywhere she had slashes; her legs, wrists, forearms, neck, collarbone, ankles, even her hips had them. "Why is that?" she asked

"You're the goddess of insanity."

Pauchi shrugged, her skin seeming to ripple. Whenever she moved, it was like watching ink sink down into the ocean. Her veins were always shifting, sometimes bulging while other times they turned black, purple, or even an electric blue.

Her eyes were even weirder, the right one, a neon color, had a long, thin slit for a pupil, while the left, a deep, dark forest-like shade, didn't even have one. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail that reached her knees, the ends fanning out until it was bigger than her frame.

"If I didn't wake up every day to a tarantula on my face, maybe I'd be, I don't know, the goddess of flowers or something."

"It's not my fault Suzy likes you," she held a hand to her shoulder, a spider the size of a softball crawling onto her palm, "don't you, Shuzy-whoozy?" If a bug could purr, that's what Suzy would be doing. She nuzzled her not so tiny, fuzzy head into Yushkep's palm.

"Anyways, why were you pacing?" Pauchi asked, trying not to flinch when Suzy looked her way. Her hand squeezed the armrest of her chair, a small crack appearing with the spider's pinchers moved.

"Why do you think I was pacing?"

"Orochimaru?"

Yushkep scowled, and Pauchi could feel the smirk tugging at her lips, bingo. "I don't understand why we're not allowed to go down there and smack him into the next dimension!"

"He's not part of any of the clans," Pauchi explained, fighting the urge to squash her sisters' beloved pet, "so he didn't sign the contract."

The albino wiggled around, whining like a little girl, "It's so unfair! He obviously has some amount of the blood in him, probably from a transplant or something, yet he won't get punished! He created an apocalypse, for heaven's sake!"

"Not our problem what the humans do, and if you don't get her away from me, I will freak and you know it. Sorry, Suzy. I mean no harm, I mean, Arachne are a good species, having to live with so many people hating you and all, but… you still kind of freak me out."

The spider understood, after all, she'd messed with her owners sister one too many times when she was a child, even if she had good intentions.

Yushkep, on the other hand, just glared at Pauchi. Raising her palm so her collarbone so Suzy could go back to resting on her shoulder, the pets favorite spot since she was an itty bitty thing compared to her masters other pets, she grabbed a scroll off from her table.

"I'm complaining to the council about this!"

"Like they'll listen to one of the goddesses of destruction," Pauchi snorted.

Again, a manicured finger pointed her way. Pauchi really didn't know how she got them don't since half the shops in the gods realm had a thing against her. Spiders always scared off the customers. "Shut up, don't you have more scheming to do, you already sent three-"

"four, actually."

"-girls to different universes wit you 'Reincarnation Center'."

The goddess rolled her eyes, "Whatever, it's for the greater good, besides, I had a feeling they'd like things better."

Yushkep just shook her head, "Hasn't one been eaten by a Hollow, another killed in the Marineford War, and the third killed by a Kishin?"

"...Yes, but this new one is going to the Ninja-verse, which is _my_ original universe, the carbon copy that Orochimaru fucked up was _yours_."

"What time are you sending the girl to?"

"Itachi and Shisuis'."

"Yep, she's doomed."

"I wouldn't say th-" Pauchi's mouth slammed shut, "I hate that girl."

"Who?" Yushkep asked.

"Yuuri."

"Ohhhhhh, what'd she do?" She asked, slinking down into one of her favorite love-seats.

"Explain jutsu to Temari, threaten her, give of the Mark of the Cursed, and not to mention say she hopes I'm on her side," they green eyed woman just shook her head, "I really do love my clans, but Yuuri's an exception."

The spider goddess nodded, "Same, I'm pretty sure they don't mean it, but the way the Hyuga's hold themselves so high pisses me off. The Haredi's weren't even part of the original eleven clans, they just popped up out of nowhere a few centuries ago, it's really weird."

"It's called manipulation and greed," Pauchi spat, "Yuuri's great-grandmother was part of the 'new clan' act, taking DNA from the Haruno, Uzumaki, and Uchiha's to make a new type of Kettō, one supposed to be stronger than the others," she snorted, "What they made were psychotic bastards.

"I mean, I know I'm the goddess of insanity, so most of my descendants are paranoid, maybe a little more than usual when people marry and cross some of the clans. It's bad enough the Uzumaki and Haruno have crossed a few times, extremely vast quantities of chakra and perfect control of it is dangerous, but when you add the Uchiha's kekai genkai to the situation," Pauchi shuddered, "they were idiots."

"I heard they mixed a bit of Hyuga in there, too," Yushkep commented, "but that's a rumor."

"That'd explain their stubbornness," she rubbed her eyes, "Still, Yuuri's the most pampered, deceiving, bratty, power obsessed, obsessive compulsive Haredi I've ever seen walk the earth."

"…you forgot insane."

"…I thought that was a given, seeing that they lean more towards my side then yours?"

"…"

"…," Pauchi sighed, "I'm getting too old for this."

"You still look twenty," Yushkep added.

"…thanks, that makes me feel so much better."

"Well considering you're the older one, I have to say that."

"It's only by three centuries, you know."

Yushkep smirked, "Two centuries, actually, if it was three then you'd be-"

"Don't say it!"

"Then you would be-"

"Don't you dare!"

"Thirty millennia's old."

"I'm still in my twenties, goddamnit!" Pauchi shouted, shooting out of her chair. The wooden piece of furniture shot across the room from the sheer force of the push, shattering into little splinters as soon as it hit the wall.

The albino was unfazed, having seen her sisters' strength many times. "Yeah, yeah, hag." Oops. Run, Yushkep, run!

Tip: Never piss off Pauchi, ever; she's where the Haruno's got their explosive and violent behavior from.

* * *

><p>Naruto yanked an orange, sleeveless hoodie over his blue tee. He was probably the brightest of the group, color wise. Kiba, Shikamaru, and Neji had black tee's on, though the Inuzuka also had on a hoodie, his just had longer sleeves. Suigetsu wore white and Sasuke sported a navy shirt and black, leather jacket.<p>

After going through the jeans department of the mall, which looked like angry fangirls had ripped through it; they'd traveled down to the men's section to get tops. Stuffing another tee and pair of jeans into his bag, the Uzumaki turned to Shikamaru, asking him where to go next.

"Rations."

"Food," Suigetsu translated when the blond just stared.

"What about the firework?"

"It obviously a sign for where people should go for help."

"Then shouldn't we head there?"

"No," the Nara said, not looking up from where what used to be the clearance bin, "we'll probably have to give up our stuff so it can be distributed, and since we're teens, we'd probably have to join some type of crappy force," he pulled a faded pair of Levi's out and sighed, shoving them into his own backpack, "I say we just live on our own."

"But what if we need ammo?" Kiba asked.

Suigetsu grinned, "That's what stealing is for. Besides, I know how to make a used bullet shootible again."

"Hozuki does have a point," Neji said, earning a look from the rest as he added his two cents for once, "And there's always close range combat."

Naruto made a face, "Who wants to go near those things?"

"Nobody, but we don't have a choice. So shut up and deal with it, dobe."

Naruto, Suigetsu, and Kiba reeled back, eyes bugging out.

"Holt shit! Who the hell are you and what have you done with teme?!" "That's the most I've ever heard Uchiha talk." "That's not Sasuke, it's an imposter. Even back in elementary, before he became a bum-," said bum rolled his eyes, "-he didn't talk that much."

Sasuke just shook his head; this is what he got when he tried to explain things to idiots. Shikamaru wore a look of sympathy and admiration, even he, the lazy genius, would have snapped back a snarky retort. Neji's face was blank as usual, though a small spark of humor could be seen in his pale irises.

"You're all idiots."

"Hey!" "Ouch." "Not one spark of guilt, huh?"

The only blond of the group stepped forward. "How can we tell if it's really you, teme?"

"For one, you just called him 'teme,'" Kiba pointed out.

"Force of habit! That what I call people with his face."

"Really?" Suigetsu asked, wondering if he dare say that to Fugaku.

Shikamaru sighed, "Troublesome. Can't we just say it's him and leave? I really don't care if's the real one or not as long as they help me stay alive."

"And he doesn't retaliate, must have a hell of a lot of self-control."

If one paid attention, you could see the slight twitch of a dark eyebrow on the Uchiha's face.

"So, te-…" the Uzumaki caught himself, "person, how can you prove you're Sasuke."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Is that a 'no, you can't?'"

"…"

"Uchiha, just do something so the idiocy will end," Thank you, Neji, thank you.

"…Hn."

Naruto's face lit up, "Teme! It's you," he rushed forward to glomp the stoic boy he grew up with, only to find said boy's hand pushing against his forehead with his arm fully extended.

Shikamaru smiled at the scene ("Teme! You know you want a hug" "Get away" "Come on!" a whine this time, "Get away," said with much more force than before). Those two truly were best friends. If it were anyone else, Sasuke would duck or step to the side, just avoid them and find a way to escape, having fan girls does that to you, but with Naruto, he actually took his time to make sure the blond stayed away.

Not to mention he made contact. A way to irk any Uchiha was to step a foot near their personal bubble. A way to piss them off was to step even a millimeter inside said bubble without permission. The Nara was surprised there we're as many injured, or dead, depending on how far inside they got, fan girls then there already was.

Shikamaru shook his head, at least they all; were loyal, even shark-teeth.

* * *

><p>Temari stumbled on yet another root. She grabbed at a branch, but the sudden pressure against the seal, glove and all, was too much, and she let go, falling into a puddle of muddy water. She looked down and groaned, "Can this get any more cliché?"<p>

If only she'd stayed with that stupid group, idiots or not, she wouldn't be in this mess. But still, who knows what Yuuri would have done to her brothers of she wasn't able to find her?

Temari had come to the conclusion that, if she really did mark Gaara and Kankuro, then the Haredi was after her the entire time.

The blond grit her teeth in frustration, I was her fault both of them were in danger, chakra crap or not.

She pulled herself off the ground, attempting to wipe the mud off her jeans. Wet denim was even more of a pain them a wet skirt. She pulled her top off, leaving her in a simple tank. Wringing it out, she used it to wipe at the dirt on her bottoms.

Tying the sleeves around her waist, wincing at the slight pressure, Temari continued her trek towards that goddamn cabin.

Why the hell would those girls leave if they had shelter, a clear, running stream, and enough wandering deer in the forest to last them years?

Konoha-shmonoha, Temari was pissed, not only at Yuuri but at those stupid girls from those stupid clans, wait, she was from one of the stupid clans too. The teal eyed girl threw her hands in the air, "Goddamn those stupid goddesses to hell!" She shouted to nothing in particular, "Why did they have to play around with mortals! Huh? Couldn't they just fool with another god instead?!"

Though, technically, if they didn't do that, Temari would be here, but she still fumed at the thought of having her brothers being hurt in order for that stupid, auburn haired bitch.

She grabbed a rock, not caring how much it hurt her hand, and chucked it with all her might. She was breathing heavily from the shouting and anger, but watching at the stone smacked into the bark of a nearby tree and left a nice dent helped, her, only a little though.

The small amount of anger that had left her suddenly flowed back, ten times as strong, and for a second, the teen saw red. Then, she was completely exhausted.

Her legs felt like Jell-O, her brain like a paper weight, and her back just wanted to bend over. Heck, she wanted to bend over, just curl into a little pissed off ball, go to sleep, and dream about beheading Yuuri over and over and over until she woke up and proceeded to wring the little whores neck for real.

Temari really did have anger issue, but it didn't help that she was on a time crunch and had to find those girls and that stupid, stupid cabin.

"If I die, I am going to haunt every single one of their scrawny little assed, possess each one of them and have them torture that grey eyed slut."

Temari fumbled at the side of her bag, snatching an energy bar and shoving it down. She threw the wrapped on the ground, mother nature can go fuck herself, and continued to stop towards the cabin.

"Over the river and through the woods, to grandmothers' house we go. To find a bitch, track down a witch, and send them both to hell."

Yep, the Sabaku was really, really pissed.


	6. Chapter 6: Clans and Bruises

**In case anyone thinks otherwise, this will be SaiIno, Kiba's here because I just love his character! Maybe I'll make an OC for him…hmmm, well; I'll cross that bridge when I get there! Here is Chapter Six!**

* * *

><p>Shikamaru pulled the trigger. The bullet lodged itself in the Z's head. It fell to the pavement. It made a soft thud. How many times had he done this? It was like the action was on loop. He glanced to the side. Kiba and Neji were back to back, pipe and sword moving like a flash whenever another Z came by.<p>

A shot rang out and the Nara glanced at Suigetsu out of the corner of his eye. The Hozuki was on the ground, breathing heavily, his arm raised, hand in the form of a gun. The Z above him toppled to the side while the albino swore, scrambling up and grabbing his bat, which was lying around a foot or two away.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto cried. The said boy turned in a flash, pulling the trigger again, and watching the little kid's body crumple. He pushed aside a ping of guilt; it was already dead, like cutting into meat, slicing up a dead, cooked body. Though he still couldn't help but give her a mental apology.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was a menace, whirling around, smashing heads, pushing Z's down stairs, sweeping their feet out from under them, stomping on their neck as he rushed towards others.

Suigetsu was breathing heavily, beads of sweat gathering at his chin and falling every other second. He was obviously exhausted, but he was using a gun. It didn't make sense. Was it Naruto, he had a pistol on him, after all. But the blond hadn't taken it out yet, so it couldn't have been him.

Shikamaru just shook his head, just over exertion; the persistent rush of adrenalin was getting to him. It was getting to all of them.

They all needed to sleep for at least a solid twelve hours; his own body wasn't used to being up this long. For once, the brunette cursed himself for taking so many daily naps.

He spun around, searching for a place to hide out in. McDonalds! They always had some weird back room employees were constantly escaping to.

"Neji!" He shouted, "Head for the sushi bar around the corner, we'll slip through the back and head to the fast food joint."

The Hyuga nodded, flipping his sword, lunging, and slicing three necks before turning on his heel and sprinting down the street. Suigetsu followed, Naruto close behind.

Kiba raced after, smashing a Z in the neck as he went. It fell to the ground with a groan, reaching its hand out and yanking on his ankle. The teen tripped, busting up the corpses head as he toppled down, right onto something sharp.

"Gah!"

"Great timing," Shikamaru muttered, racing towards him. His sneakers splashed against the red pooling around Kiba.

Sasuke swore, smashing a businessman's skull and heading for his unconscious comrade. He flicked his bat downwards, blood splattering as he ran. Shikamaru grabbed the Inuzuka by the arm, hoisting the bot up.

"I'm fine," Kiba protested, wincing when even more of his life's fluid spilled out his shirt. His side was throbbing so, so hard, and his vision was blurring. His shirt was soaked and clinging to his, rubbing against his cut even more. A moan of pain went past his lips before he even recognized it.

"And I hate sleep, now shut up." Sasuke skidded to a stop next to them, snatching up Kiba's other limb and throwing it over his shoulder. The started a moderately paced hobbled towards the McDonalds, Kiba between the two geniuses.

The Z's followed, only yards behind.

A string of swears flew out of Shikamaru's mouth, "Turn around, we're leading them towards the others. I'll call Neji and we'll all meet up at Tokyo Tower, right now we can't do much besides carry idiot here to safety."

Sasuke nodded, "We should head towards the vet, nobody will be there."

"Okay, we'll go through the ally, not that many Z's will be able to fit through and we can kill them off if they get too close."

It was weird, the last few days Shikamaru had become closely attached to the others. He wasn't a leader, not like Neji or Sasuke, but both of the said boys strangely listened to him.

Kiba stumbled a bit and Sasuke gave a groan of annoyance, letting go. He picked the teen up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "Let's go."

"Wait, hey, what the heck!"

"Shut up."

"Let me down!"

"Hn."

It was times like these Shikamaru was glad Sasuke was a man of many talents.

* * *

><p>Neji did not swear. Neji did not curse. Neji did not say any impure things. Or at least, that's what Suigetsu thought. But the words coming out of the Hyuga's mouth when he hung up the phone were anything but pretty. He turned to Naruto, scowling "We're meeting up at Tokyo tower. Kiba fainted, and they're stuck carrying him. They're near his family business."<p>

"Let them know the code for the basement door of fifty-seven thirty-six."

"_What_?"

"Just shut up and tell them, Kiba'll understand!" Neji reluctantly typed some stuff into his phone grumbling about something before he sent the text.

A reply came a minute later, "He wants to know if there's any," he squinted, "soldier pills in there."

"In the copper box, did anyone get bit?" A slight ping answered him. Neji looked down and a small breath puffed out of his lips. Suigetsu didn't know if it was out of exasperation or relief.

"No, but Kiba fell onto some glass when he was fighting a Z, it's pretty deep and needs stitches. He's not telling anyone about the pills, but it has to do with… speedy recovery."

Naruto rubbed his neck and held his head in his hands, "How does this happen? How?"

"I don't know," Suigetsu growled out, starting to get irritated at the kid.

"Well someone has to!" He shouted, "This is impossible, 'ttebayo! Neji, you're smart, tell us what happened!" He was getting hysterical, going crazy.

"If I had an answer we wouldn't be in this mess!" Neji snapped.

"Then find an answer!"

"I can't, I don't know anything about human anatomy!"

"Of course you do, Dattebayo! You aced health!"

"It was memorization, you expect me to remember how everything works?!"

"Yes! You're a genius!"

"No! I'm not!"

"Yes, you. Are!"

They were nose to nose now, and it looked like one more misplaced word would cause a fistfight.

"I'm not a genius," Neji spat out, "You're just a dufus!"

Naruto reeled his arm back and socked the Hyuga right between the eyes. Neji stumbled back a bit, grit his teeth, and punched him in the gut. Spittle flew from the blond's mouth. Naruto growled and slammed his head into Neji's.

* * *

><p>Karin pivoted, raised her leg, and pushed as much force into her kick as possible. The top of her shoe connected with the side of the Z's face, and its head snapped to the side. Her momentum carried her around in a spin and she dropped her limb in fear of becoming dizzy. Her foot was about to hit the metal plate on the ground when she noticed she had company. Five Z's had circled her.<p>

And in that instant, when a single though of her doom had surfaced, it was like a pipe in her mind had clicked into place.

When Karin's boot/sneaker hit the manhole cover it made a sound akin to thunder. Pushing off it, the redhead felt her lips part into what she knew was a feral grin. She slammed her knee into the space between its eyes.

Grabbing two other undead beings that flanked its sides, she hoisted them up and smashed their heads together in the same second she raised her remaining leg, took hold of the first Z's neck, and moved her knee to the side. There was a sharp, explosive noise as its neck broke. Pulling her leg down in a quick motion, Karin threw the last remaining bodies into yet another.

She dropped to the pavement and swung her leg out, tripping one more. As it toppled, she slammed her foot onto its head with enough force to send skull fragments into the brain. She launched off it and socked another Z square in the nose. Karin felt it's bone break, the crack sneaking up to its forehead.

It dropped to the ground, dead for a final time.

And then the pipe burst. Karin dropped to her knees; it felt as if her mind was burning. She brought her hands up to her head, clutching at her hair. She bent forewords, forgetting all about where she was. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt! A gasp plunged her into even more pain. Her sides seemed like they would split open, as if something was trying to dig its way out.

TenTen, who was a few meters away, gaped. Quickly shaking off her shock, she rushed towards the girl, raising her bat above her head and smashing the head of a Z that had towered above the redhead.

"Ten!" Sakura shouted, and the brunette's arm flew in an arc around her body, Smasher smacking into a Z's temple. Every single one of the walking dead turned towards the Uzumaki, as if she was a beacon.

Karin's breathing became ragged, her heartrate picking up to almost impossible speeds. _A panic attack? No, I haven't had those in years._ "Gah!"

Ino thrust her pole into a Z's chest, placed her hand on the side, and pushed with all her might. The rotting body picked up off the ground and slammed into three others. Yanking her makeshift weapon out of the dead woman's rib cage, the blond raced over to aid her friends.

They'd left a half hour ago but they were already surrounded. How did it happen? They were all supposed to be heading towards other humans. She skidded to a stop, spinning the pole above her head and slamming it down onto a Z's skull.

"Bun-Bun! What's going on?!" She called, hoping her voice would draw some Z's closer.

"GAHHH!" Karin screamed again, clutching at her head even harder.

The brunette shook her head, "I don't know," she smacked the butt of Smasher into the back of a Z's neck. "Goddamn it! Where's Hinata?!"

Sakura lunged forward, pushing a few Z's down and stomping on their heads. She whirled around on the balls of her feet, the scabbard of her katana smashing into rotting cheeks, snapping their necks from the force.

She twirled the still sheathed sword in her hand, blood flying around in the air like a ribbon, watching as some arrows sailed past her cheeks, slamming into the foreheads of some of the dead. She raised her weapon, the length of it running along the side of her arm. She brought it up to her head, slamming it down onto a few more heads. Bodies crumpled to the ground.

Sakura's remaining arm left her side, pointing to the bus stop, Hinata perched atop the glass shelter around it. The lavender eyed girl had already nocked two more arrows and was letting them fly, her fingers immediately reaching down to the quiver on her leg.

"There," the pinkette deadpanned, before rushing into a crowd of Z's, smashing skulls like there was no tomorrow.

"Get Karin," she called out, "we're finding a place to crash!"

TenTen nodded, bending down and throwing the redheads arm over her shoulder. She gasped as soon as she touched her skin, she was burning up! Karin's head lolled to the side and the brunette noticed another thing, she was unconscious.

TenTen gave a groan of frustration, why her! "Come on, ya fangirling tsundere."

Ino twisted her pole into the abdomen of a business man, watching as the fabric of his suit pushed into his wound. With a grunt, she shifted her foot to the right, bracing herself on the make-shift weapon and pulling the dead body forward. "Hya!" The body left the end of the metal and flew through the air, slamming into two others.

She spun around, smacking the body of the pole into the back of a Z's neck. A few arrows flew past her, imbedding themselves into dead flesh.

"Hinata!" The Yamanaka called out, "Get down, we're leaving!"

The teen nodded, hopping down onto the pavement. She swung her bow around and it smacked into a Z's temple. Hinata watched with sad eyes as her fellow middle schooler dropped dead, again.

They were only thirteen, fourteen, if you counted TenTen. They weren't killers! They didn't even know advanced algebra yet!

Hinata shook her head, she needed to get a hold of herself, this was the apocalypse, for crying out loud! People were bound to die, and if she wasn't careful, she'd be one of them.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru raised the bottle of rubbing alcohol, top screwed off, label blaring white. "This is gonna sting."<p>

"Heh," Kiba grinned, beads of sweat forming on his face. Sasuke grabbed the cloth he'd run under warm water and wiping the boys features. He was a bit harsh, adding more pressure than needed, but the Uchiha didn't know shit about medical crap. "It'll be nothin'."

Shikamaru sighed, feeling terrible for the shirtless boy. "Sasuke," he said, and the dark haired teen nodded, reaching over, and putting his hands next to the gash on Kiba's side. He shoved another cloth into the boys' mouth, taking a third and dabbing away at the blood.

He set it back down, not even sparing a glance at the red splotches, "Ready." He pushed, and slowly opened the wound. The Inuzuka made a strangled sound against the cloth, and Sasuke's eyes narrowed in what was an 'almost wince.'

Shikamaru took a breath, poured the liquid in, and prayed to God that the Z's didn't hear Kiba's screams.

* * *

><p>Sakura shut the apartment door behind her, turning the bolt. It took a few seconds, the door had been pushed in, after all, and was probably broken. B ut as soon as the loud, thunk-like noise hit her ears, she sighed, and dropped to her knees.<p>

"Oh. My. God."

"You can say that again."

"Pig," Sakura ground out, not in the mood for her best friends bubbly personality, "Shut. Up."

Ino's mouth slammed shut, and she glowered at the futon they were setting up for Karin. Hinata drew the blinds shut and walked into the small kitchen, hoping there was food left. The blood on the floor, which only she and Sakura had seen before the pinkette threw a rug over it, had signified that the Z's had broken in. They searched the place, weapons at the ready, but found nothing, so decided to crash there.

TenTen shifted from foot to foot, Karin wasn't exactly heavy, if anything she was too light, but holding an unconscious girl piggy back style wasn't comfortable, especially since her hands tended to flop in certain places. "Is it ready yet?" She asked, hosting redhead up higher when her palms dropped a bit lower.

"Yeah," she blond got up, dusting off her thighs. TenTen dumped the girl down onto the blankets a wince when she rolled a bit.

"Oops?"

Ino shrugged, "What she doesn't know can't hurt her." TenTen chuckled and started to help her friend pull the quilt over Karin's body.

"What do you think happened?" She asked, taking the teen hair out of its ponytail. She slipped the band onto her wrist, knowing that they couldn't afford to waste any. They couldn't just run to a convenience store and buy a pack any more, after all.

"I don't know, ask the medic."

"I still don't think I should have that role," Sakura pointed out, setting her pack down and starting to ruffle through the medical items they'd swiped from various first aid kits, "We need more rubbing alcohol," she said, not looking behind her. Seconds passed and everyone could hear the faint screams in the distance, acting like imaginary crickets.

The pinkette glanced over her shoulder to find Ino and TenTen on the floor, rolling around in silent peals of laughter. "What?"

"N-Nothing," Ino managed out between breaths. She wiped a tear from her eye and straightened up, "Could you take a look at Karin?"

Sakura nodded, getting to her feet and walking over. She bent down next to the redhead, eyebrows drawn close together. Taking some hand sanitizer from her pocket, which got her a raised eyebrow from a certain orphan, she dumped some onto her palms, rubbing them together.

A few seconds later, the teen bent over, opening Karin's mouth and peering inside. She glanced around, eyebrows furrowing even more. She sat back and put a hand on her forehead, mimicking the gesture on her patent.

"What in the-?"

"What?" Ino asked, "What is it?"

Sakura ignored her, peeling a bit of the quilt off and pressing her ear to Karin's chest, taking the pulse from the girl's neck at the same time. Her eyes went wide and she shot up, "Blanket off! Now!"

She did have to tell them twice, and in a second Karin's body was visible. Sakura pushed Karin's top up above her stomach.

TenTen drew in a sharp breath, "The fuck?!"

There were eight bruises dusting around her navel, around the size of a five-hundred yen coin each.

"IS that… a pattern?" Ino asked, squinting down.

Sakura shook her head, raising a finger a pointing one of them. It suddenly shifted and she gasped, watching as each portion of skin that held the purple color seemed to unravel, spinning and shifting until they came to a stop, Karin's belly button right in the middle of it all.

"Holy shit," TenTen breathed out, staring straight at the symbols. "What in the world is she?"

* * *

><p>Suigetsu watched as Neji and Naruto rolled around the floor, throwing sloppy punches around like little kids. They'd been going at it for fifteen minutes now, and after the first ten the Hozuki had gotten bored. With a sigh, he got up and yanked the two apart, dropped Naruto to the left and pushing Neji to the right.<p>

"Shut up, you're acting like brats. Go in the mopey, emo corner or whatever you wanna call it, 'cause I'm _not_ dealing with you right now, got it?" Naruto grumbled something and sat down; crossing his arms and sticking his lip out. Neji narrowed his eyes and took a step forward.

Suigetsu threw an arm out in front of him, "No."

A glaring contest between lavender and violet ensued short afterwards. But Neji was tired and his game wasn't even a fraction of what it could be, "Fine," he ground out, heading towards the counter in the back of the break room.

"We'll head for the tower in two hours and wait for the others there," Suigetsu told them both, but they weren't really listening, "Take a nap, you need it."

"I think you need it more than us, 'ttebayo," Naruto murmured, snatching up a table cloth and winding it around himself. He was fast asleep in seconds, Neji following.

Suigetsu smiled, "Pauchi's clans can go for weeks without sleep," and with that, he shut the lights off and summoned some water from a dripping faucet, starting to make circles in the air with it.


	7. Chapter 7: A Town Bathed in Blood

A bit of fluff, since things are getting dark from here on out. This is really just a filler chapter, since I need a bit of time to collect my thoughts. Characters will be introduced, though, so you can't skip number seven. Don't forget to review! ~ Koi

Temari sighed, she'd gotten there too late, the girls had already left. The blond groaned, smacking her forehead with her hand. The Mark of the Curse had faded, looking more like an old tattoo instead of a recently drawn on image. The pain had subsided too, and Temari found out that the lines of the symbols had hardened like a callous.

After a few more swears and some treats to scalp that little witchy bitch, the Sabaku headed inside, grabbing some rations and weapons, along some knives. Food was still on the stove, though lukewarm, and she helped herself to that.

So seven minutes later, she walked out wearing a black, kimono style top with teal trimmings, black jeggings, and teal high tops. "So," she said, throwing her arms above her head and stretching out her back, "The city, huh?"

* * *

><p>"Gah!"<p>

"Shut up," Sasuke spit out, holding Kiba down as he continued to scream against the rag in his mouth. Shikamaru threaded the needle through the boys' skin.

"Remember," Kiba gasped, having somehow managed to spit the cloth out, "Not too loose, it won't seal together. Too tight and it'll get infected."

"Shut up," the Nara tugged a little on the thread, knotting it before continuing on.

"Why's everyone telling me that?!"

"Cause you need to shut up!"

"Hn."

"I don't need your commentary, Uchiha."

"Hn."

"Why you little-!"

Shikamaru smacked the injured boy in the arm before he could piss Sasuke off even more. "Shut. Up."

Kiba groaned, letting his head fall back and hit the tile of the basement, "Just finish sowing the gash in my side closed."

"I will if you would just close your mouth!" Shikamaru snapped.

"Just do it!" Sasuke stuffed the rag back into the Inuzuka's mouth.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you have no idea what they are?" Ino asked.<p>

"I'm sure! They're sure as hell not normal bruises and tribal markings don't fucking move."

"Are you surely sure?!"

"Oh my god Ino shut up! I am sure, goddamn it! Now shut up or so help me I will throw you out for those walking corpses to feed on!"

"Well someone's a little pissy." All heads turned to the, apparently awake, redhead. "Why's my shirt half off?"

"I think the question is," TenTen said, pointing to her stomach, "Why do you have those?"

"Why do I have wh-?" Her eyes went wide, "Ahhhhhh!"

Sakura clamped a hand on her mouth, "Idiot, do you want to get us all killed? You're worse than Ino." The Yamanaka scowled at the Haruno, trying to burn a hole in the back of her little pink head. The owner of said head sighed, lowering her arm, "Do they hurt?" she asked, referring to the bruises.

Karin looked down, poking one, "No, it just feels like a piercing, kind of."

"Are they piercings?"

"No, blonde, they're not."

"What did you just call me?!"

TenTen stepped in between both squabbling girls, "Just, stop! What do you mean, 'feels like a piercing?'"

"It feels kind of like when your holes close up and you have to force the needle through. It doesn't hurt that much, but you can feel your skin stretch until it breaks. Right now it feels like it's kind of being pulled out, though."

Everyone looked down at Karin's abdomen, and sure enough, the bruises had shrunk in size, their color duller than before.

Sakura sighed, "Well, I can't say anything since we haven't identified shit, but it looks like things are getting a bit better. The question is," she closed her eyes, "If something happens, will you be able to defend yourself?"

Hinata could hear the gasps from the living room. She could hear TenTen's shouts of wonder and fear. She could hear Ino demanding answers from Sakura, who had none to give. The Hyuga could tell something was wrong, whether it was with Karin or not, and it was bad.

So she did what anyone would do, slammed her knife down into the cutting board and walked out of the kitchen. "I-Is everything ok-okay?" She asked, cursing herself for stuttering again.

Wide eyes turned to her and she blinked, "Huh?"

* * *

><p>'Nee-san…Nee-san…Nee-san!'<p>

"What?!" The auburn haired Haredi snapped, shooting up from her position on top of the skyscraper. She was met with floating grey eyes slightly lighter than her own. The girl sighed, "What do you want, Daisuke?"

The eyes blinked, 'Papa wants you.'

"And you had to yell at me for that?" She asked.

'You weren't waking up.'

"How are you even talking to me?"

'Via mind.'

_Well, fuck you. I sound like an idiot talking aloud to myself, you know. _

'You sound like an idiot no matter what.' Yuuri sent a jolt of telepathic energy towards her younger brother's mind. 'Ow!'

_You deserved it._

'Papa wants you.'

_I heard you the first time._

'Well he's getting impatient and threatening to burn your secret yaoi collection.'

Yuuri furrowed her eyebrows together, _He knows about that?_

'No, but he will soon.'

_Douchebag_.

'Hey! I'm only nine!'

_Then it's an accomplishment._

'…You're a bitch.'

_Why thank you, I try._

* * *

><p>Neji woke up to a loud yawn and some swearing.<p>

"You said you weren't tired bastard!"

"Yawning doesn't mean you're tired, dipshit."

"Yes it does, 'ttebayo!"

"No it doesn't!"

"Yes, it does!"

"No!"

"Yes, Dattebayo!"

"No!"

"No!"

"Do you seriously think I'd fall for that?!"

"Yes!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Dipshit!"

"You already used that!"

The Hyuga rubbed his temples, "Why am I stuck with the idiots?" He asked himself.

"Hey!" "You better not be talking about me, 'tttebayo!"

"Be quite!" He hissed, getting to his feet, "Grab your stuff and shut up, we're leaving."

Naruto blinked, "Already?" He didn't get an answer. "But Kiba's hurt, he won't be able to move"

Suigetsu just continued to ruffle through his bag, looking to see if he still had what he needed, "Tokyo tower is going to be out base from now on. It's where we're gonna live. People are fleeing the city, the Z's will follow. It's simple."

"Will other join us?" he asked.

The albino gave a cry of frustrations, "No! It's going to be us six and us six only. If people come whining and weeping to us, I'll blow their brains out. We already have too many people, three or four wouldn't be too bad, five's stretching it, but six goddamn people?"

He straightened up, slinging his pack over his shoulder, "I bet you one'll be dead before we hit the tower. And guess what," he leaned forward, "Chances are, it's dog-breath."

* * *

><p>Temari grit her teeth and swung her pipe to the side. It smacked into a Z's cheek with a sickening 'crunch,' and the next thing she new, the woman was meters away, tumbling down into the subway.<p>

She brought the metal weapon back up, smashing it into one mores' spine (it didn't matter if they were dead, it would still leave them paralyzed from the waist down). The rod was used to hit a third in the forehead and a fourth in the back of the neck.

Another went down with a blow to the back of the head and the sixth was stabbed through the eye with a piece of glass she'd found on the street, the sharp end burying itself into the Z's brain.

The entire end of the pipe was soaking in blood, little droplets dipping down onto the already dyed cement. Temari was huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf, having been smashing, shattering, and maiming for the last forty minutes.

The blond took a deep breath before lunging with another swing, bringing one more dead body to its final resting place.

She'd just have to deal with it.

With a feral roar, Temari threw her arm out around her, pushing and pushing and pushing until five Z's heads had been obliterated. Her limbs backswing spun her around, and she jumped, bringing the pole down hard onto the top of a pre-teens skull.

It practically exploded, leaving a pool of blood and brains on the ground. Something smacked onto her cheek and she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand.

The Sabaku kicked out one Z's leg, dislocating the knee, brought her foot down on another's ankle, it shattered upon impact, and slammed her heel into the lasts thigh, breaking its femur clean in two.

The said bone broke the skin, and Temari used it to haul the Z up and throw in towards others. She quickly made use of the still 'alive' Z's, and kicked them towards another group, this one of five.

The makeshift log tripped three of the five, and two of them toppled forwards, heads smashing into the cement. The third continued to roll, but was brought to its end when she quickly destroyed its head as she made for the remaining duo.

She hit one it the side, sending it somersaulting down some stairs. The next was given a pipe to the side of the neck, and it crumpled to the ground. Temari spun around and kicked a Z in the stomach, and it too was sent down the steps.

The two she'd sent rolling had struggled to their feet. She rushed towards them, holding her weapon in front of her like it was a shield. She raised it a bit, and as she ran right in between the Z's, the ends of the pipe caught onto their necks.

"HAH!"

There was a loud ripping noise, and soon, two heads were rolling down the gutter.

Temari whipped around, ready to face some more of the walking corpses, but found the street was empty. She gave a sigh of relief and bent down to wipe her hands and pipe on a random body's shirt.

"Sorry about that," she said, "but you were kind of attacking me." Pulling the cardigan of the woman's body off, she used it to wipe between her fingers before rocking backwards on her feet and standing up.

She stuffed the article of clothing into her backpack, adjusting the straps a little. Stepping over the decapitated corpse, Temari found herself humming as she made her way down the road, twirling her blood pipe like a baton.

* * *

><p>Naruto slammed the butt of his bat into a Z's temple, wincing slightly when his elbow pushed down a bit harder against the angle his arm was at. He swiped the old man's legs out from under him and swung his bat again, this time aiming for a teacher's neck.<p>

The metal connected and its head snapped into a perfect right angle, almost looking like a broken doll as it collapsed.

Turning on the sole of his foot, the blond grabbing the top of the bat and smashed the length of it onto a third Z's head. It practically burst, brains, blood, and some shards of bone exploding outwards like shrapnel. Naruto didn't even look at it, knowing he'd stop for a few seconds just to stare at the damage he'd caused.

Pivoting again, he let go of one side of his weapon, the other end propelling forwards and into a fourth the corpse's forehead.

He adjusted his grip on the rubber wrapped around the handle and charged forward into another group of Z's.

Neji, who was a few meters away, was even more of a menace. Jabbing at ribs, toppling bodies down into gutters, stomping on heads and necks, smashing heads and necks, ignoring the splatters of blood on him as he continue; jab, stomp, smash, crunch, jab, duck, step-side, smack, smash, crunch, jab, crunch, smash, crunch, smack, crunch, crunch, crunch, CRUNCH!

He wasn't even using his sword, it had broken a block ago when he'd decapitated ten too many Z's. His _sheath_ was bringing down dozens of corpses, all at the flick of a hand or the lunge of a leg.

The Hyuga narrowed his eyes as a group of five Z's limped towards him. He sighed, shaking his arm out a bit before charging them.

He smashed one in the knee, its reflexing making it buckled. Its face was soon in the dirt, and a second later it was a normal corpse again, the entirety of the back of its head red with its blood.

The second went down with a jab to the spine, cutting the brain off from the body. The next got an elbow to the nose, an invisible crack snaking its way up its forehead at the blow. It dropped like a fly. The forth was dead with a knee to the temple, and the fifth received a smashed skull.

Suigetsu shot one Z in the head, smashed another's neck with the butt of his gun, and pulled the trigger on another.

Secretly using water instead of actual bullets, he'd run out of those five minutes ago, he prayed to the Godly Sisters, aimed more towards Yushkep since Pauchi scared the shit out of him, that no one realized. He shot another two Z's in the head and smacked three more in the head with his gun.

Another water bullet ripped through a skull, and Suigetsu felt something inside him churn when he saw the bodies face. It belonged to Yohe, his brother's best friend.

The Hozuki stared for a second; he probably would have looked even _longer_, if not for the groan that sounded off from the right. He whirled around and pulled the trigger twice, not even thinking about who or what he was shooting at.

Luckily, he didn't hit anything that hadn't already died, and two more Z's crumpled to the cement.

"Hozuki!" Suigetsu turned around in time to catch a wooden rod, and a heavy one at that. The albino looked towards the only one of his group that actually called him that.

"What, Hyuga?!" He shouted back, shooting another and tripping a second. He stomped on its neck, then on its head, not wanting to take any chanced.

"Don't waste any more ammo, use that!" And with those words, he turned around and smashed more skulls.

Suigetsu reluctantly shoved his gun back into his pocket and threw the rod up, catching it with his good hand. Twirling it around a few times, he pivoted and smashed it into a Z's temple.

It didn't snap, it didn't crack, hell; it didn't even make a whining noise as he turned again, the wooden weapon still pressed against the head. He pulled it across the side of its skull like a knife and brought it down onto a second's neck.

Suigetsu smirked, tossing the rod up a bit. "I could get used to this."

And he whirled around and smashed another Z's head.


	8. Chapter 8: Stashes and Pills

Okay, I need ideas for filler chapters! PM me or comment them. I need things to use to fill up time between the girls getting their powers and finding Konoha, the guys I have all figured out, but I'll take things for them, too. That's the reason for a quick update, so don't expect another one so soon!

* * *

><p>Yuuri walked into her house, step-siding some dead bodies on her way to the kitchen. She was met with the hazel eyes and red hair of her mother, who was in the middle of making American sushi.<p>

"Kaa-san," the girl greeted, and Haredi Kaya turned around.

"Yu-chan!" she squealed, setting down her knife and hugging her daughter, "Welcome home, how was your day?"

"Good, where Daisuke?"

"Dai-kun's in his room," she leaned in and cupped a hand around her mouth, "I think he's afraid you're going to castrate him or something." She laughed, smacking her daughter on the shoulder, "But I know you don't want that, after all," her look darkened, "I want grandchildren."

Yuuri rolled her eyes, "I know mother, you tell me that every day." She turned and started down the hall, "I'm just going to… help him fix his hair."

Kaya smiled, "Okay, just don't die it black again, he looks good as a blond." Sometimes having an airhead mother was a good thing.

"Can't promise anything," Yuuri muttered, strutting to her brother's room. Screams were heard a minute later.

* * *

><p>TenTen rubbed her temples, "Okay, so explain to me what happened when I went to help Hinata in the kitchen?"<p>

"My bruises disappeared," Karin stated, surprisingly calm.

"Are you talking about hickeys or the ones on your stomach?"

The redhead flipper her off, "We're all second year middle schoolers, jackass, we don't have sex."

TenTen held up a finger, "One, I'm a third year, two we don't, but you may."

"I'm still a virgin goddamnit!" She whisper-yelled, her face flushing scarlet. Ino was trying her best not to laugh, Hinata had smoke rising off her skin she was blushing so hard, and Sakura was mimicking Ino, silently pounding on the side of her thigh in attempts to hold her chuckles in.

Once she composed herself, the Haruno strutted over to Karin. Crouching down, she peered at the girl's abdomen.

"What?" The Uzumaki asked, inching away a bit.

"Can you do a sit up?"

"…Excuse me?"

"I asked if you could do a sit up."

The girl slowly lied down, put her hands behind her head, and did a single sit-up.

Sakura nodded, "Did you feel any overwhelming pain?" she asked.

Karin blinked, "No."

"Did your muscles spasm?"

"…No."

"Would you be able to do another one?"

"I'd prefer not to," Karin spat. _The hell is with her, _she thought_, did she run into Gai-sensei or something while I was out?_

Sakura laughed and put a hand on the popular's shoulder, "You're good to go, the bruises haven't seemed to affect you."

"Nice to know," and with that, Karin tugged her shirt down and stood, making her way to the kitchen. After rummaging around through the pantry, she found two boxes of granola bars. Shoving three into her own bag, she returned to the living room and handed the rest to Ino, who then stuffed them in her own backpack.

"We're going over the materials we have, lay out your things and report. Well go over cloths after we're done." Each girl shuffled though their bags and started to line things up.

Sakura went first, "We have three hypodermic needles, five rolls of gauze, two five ounce bottles of hydrogen peroxide, a ten ounce bottle of rubbing alcohol, a single shot of anesthetic, seven boxes of fifteen count Band-Aids. There are also a few needles and some thread for stitches. I have three water bottles and two rolls of bread. I also have my phone and a charger for it I found in the cabin. I have an extra katana and a knife."

Karin nodded, "Hinata."

"I-I have forty-six a-arrows left, two kni-knifes, two rolls of wi-wire, a book on ea-eatable herbs, a book on pois-poisonous animals and plants, seventy ar-arrowheads, and two pi-pieces of a broken bow that can be used for s-splints. I-I have three w-water bottles and –t-two rolls o-of bread. I a-also have my ph-phone; it's the same as S-Sakura-chan's, so I can u-use her charger. I-I only have o-one long bow a-and one qu-quiver."

"Give the wood to Sakura, she's our medic," before the pinkette could protest Karin moved onto TenTen, "What do you have?"

"Smasher, five knives, three are pairing, so I can only use them to throw, but two are chefs, so I can use the if I need to, about fifteen .22 bullets, I don't have a pistol for them, though, some wire, a switchblade, a lock-pick set I swiped from the cabin, and my phone and charger. I have three water bottles and two rolls of bread."

"Good, Ino."

"Fifteen rolls of bread in total, ten water bottles, two twenty county purifier tablet packets, thirty granola bars, my stick, two knifes, and about five-thousand yen." **(A/N that's about fifty American dollars. Just move the decimal two places to the left and say that's the currency for your country, it'll be easier.)**

Karin smacked her forehead, "I forgot money. How much do you guys have? Roughly?"

"Four-thousand in cash, I have five five-hundred coins though." "About three-thousand." "Tw-Twenty-thousand in c-cash an-and my c-card."

"I have around two-thousand. I have three water bottles and two pieces of bread, three granola bars, two knifes, a map, and…that's it. Okay, cloths, we'll start with TenTen."

"I have a bra and two pairs of underwear, a light hoodie, a beanie, a pack of hair ties, an extra pair of tights and shorts and another top. I also have two pairs of socks and some extra converse."

Sakura followed up, "I have two extra blouses, an extra skirt, two pairs of bras and underwear, three hair-ties, a pair of sneakers, besides the ones on my feet, and some extra laces. Ino-pig, your turn."

"Three bras, four pairs of underwear, extra sandals, jeans, and a halter, and two hoodies, I'm giving forehead one, though."

Karin shrugged, "Do what you want, Hinata."

"I h-h-have two p-p-p-p-p-pairs of undergarments each a-and an extra skirt. I-I also ha-have an extra t-top and a pair of gl-gloves. I al-also have my f-flats."

The redhead nodded, "I have two bras and three pairs of underwear, an extra pair of shoes, two skirts, two tanks, and an extra jacket. That's it. Ino, can you give everyone four granola bars and keep the rest?"

The Yamanaka nodded and set to work. "Sakura, make sure if anyone has bad allergies to give them the needles. Also, we all need a single roll of gauze; you said you had five, right?"

"Yeah," she picked four up and held them out, everyone took one. She then handed Ino a needle, who sheepishly took it.

TenTen raised an eyebrow, "What are you allergic to?"

She blushed, "Mold, if I touch it I'll break out into hives and my throat will close up."

They all tucked that into a file in their brains. Hinata was also given a needle, "They can help stop seizures." **(LYE! They cannot, if someone is having a seizure, call the paramedics, I made this up for the plots sake, it cannot be done. Sorry about this, but I need you to know."**

The Hyuga nodded. She hadn't had one in years, but it really was just a pre-caution. Sakura kept the third to herself, being the only other person who knew how to correctly use one.

Once everyone was set up and re-packed, TenTen and Hinata went back to making dinner. They'd be crashing at the apartment for the night, after all.

"Hinata, do you think we'll be able to bring this hand-sanitizer along?"

"Y-Yes."

* * *

><p>Kiba glanced behind his shoulder; both Shikamaru and Sasuke were out like lights, the former of the two snoring like a goddamn fat man. Sasuke twitched a bit, and the Inuzuka held his breath, not wanting him to wake up. A second passed and he turned in his sleep, back to the congested Nara.<p>

Kiba gave a quite sigh of relief, thanking Naruto for being a noisy sleeper, and quickly opened the door to the supply closet. Tip-toeing inside, he made his way to the safe in the back. Inputting the codes Suigetsu had given him, since his mother had insisted he never, ever use the contents, he swung the door open.

Inside lay five leather bags, filled three-quarters of the way to the top with small balls (insert snicker from dog-breath here). Reaching inside, Kiba grabbed one and shoved it down his throat, not wanting to ever have to taste them again.

It still brushed his tongue, though, and he gave a silent gag, clutching at his neck. After finishing up his string of horrified and displeased expressions, he muttered to himself: "Bleh, what happened to bitter flea flavor? Did Kaa-chan make an even worse batch?"

The teen grabbed two of the bags and made his way out of the room, closing the safe while he was at it. Walking back into the basement, he shoved them into his backpack, and snuggled back under the blankets they'd grabbed from upstairs.

Time to catch some sleep.

A loud snore rumbled up from Shikamaru's throat. Kiba scowled, or not.


	9. Chapter 9: Tokyo Tower

**And just to let you know, the meeting was NOT rushed. It was meant to be abrupt, choppy, and an accident on the blonds behalf. Thank you very much, also REVIEW PLEASE! **

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><p>Sasuke, Kiba, and Shikamaru trudged through the streets of Tokyo, heading for the giant, red tower looming in the distance. It'd take at least three hours from where they were, and that was excluding the rest time Kiba needed in order not to pass out.<p>

The only non-brunette in the group scowled, his normal expression, thank you very much, and started to mutter things under his breath. It was all that mutts' fault they were lagging behind; he just had to trip and fall on some glass. The Uchiha kept grumbling some not so nice things about Kiba while the said boy shrank away from him.

Shikamaru sighed, watching as Sasuke started to give out his infamous death glare, he'd seen it Naruto cower under it enough times to know it's dangers, and opened his mouth, "Guys," he whispered, not wanting to alert any of the walking corpses, "I know it's troublesome, but bear with it, we have to get to the tower."

Kiba snapped out of his cowering and grinned, "Yeah!" he said as quietly as possible, "It'll be like we're the kings of the city!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, though agreed. With everyone leaving for the country, and maybe even a few more staying, they'd have the most power. They had amazing fighters, Naruto and himself, two geniuses, Shikamaru and Neji, someone who knew how to do medical shit, Kiba, and Suigetsu, the kid who knew the city like his own brain, as hopeless as that sounded.

They'd survive. Sasuke glanced over to Kiba, who looked like he was trying not to wince while putting a hand on his side. He narrowed his eyes, well, most of them. Their next stop had to be the hospital, they had to get pain killers and medical supplies; they wouldn't be able to live with what they currently had.

And once the electricity gave out, they'd need blankets and candles, things to warm them. And they needed access to fire or a kitchen, and lots and lots of bullets. They needed medicine and vaccines, which wouldn't be able to get updated ever again.

Fruits, vegetables, and even grain would become scarce. There was the river they could get water from, and they all knew how to boil the liquid. The forest provided meat, deer and such, and within a few years they'd start to roam around the abandoned town.

Sasuke thought for a moment, maybe if they cleared up some of the parking lot or stuff, they could grow food, there were always seed packets in the market and such. And lots of crates of storage must be left, since everyone should have gone for the backpacks and canned goods.

The Uchiha nodded to himself, they'd be able to get by. Winter was the problem. But if they rationed and stock pilled, not to mention raided the library, they'd be fine. They'd all be fine.

Shikamaru gave a small snort, "We won't be the kings, Kiba."

Sasuke nodded, the best he could do to approve something. "We need to stop by the market, I need to get something."

Kiba gasped, "So he speaks!" The teen shot him a glare and his mouth snapped shut. "Sorry," the Inuzuka whispered.

* * *

><p>In the store, Kiba went through the snack isle, grabbing boxes of crackers, granola bars and ripping them open, shoving the packages into American style lunch boxes he found. The tattooed thirteen year old was munching on his second ice cream bar, about to go on his third. All three needed to gain a lot of weight to survive, at least two pounds.<p>

_Six pack be damned,_ Shikamaru had said, _we need_ _fat for when we don't have food._

So Kiba had immediately sped to the frozen section and raided the sugary, and frozen, goodness. He passed Sasuke a few times, who was stuffing seed packets in the pockets of his own bag and munching on what looked to be bakers chocolate.

Kiba made a face, that guy wasn't human. Shikamaru had grabbed a few bananas, say that even if they spoiled they gave great strength and the others would need it. He also grabbed apples, not too bad, carrots, oh lord, broccoli, Kiba gagged at that, celery, he almost fainted, and lots and lots of sugars cubes.

The brunette turned down another isle and started to pack fruit snacks and pop tarts into the boxes, which would go in his bag or hang off it, since he had places to clip it to. Zipping up the second box, he stuffed that in his bag and noted he had room for one more.

After taking a detour to the frozen section again, he grabbed zip lock bags and started to fill them with the nut mixes, he giggled at the thought, and pieces of granola and some chips. Once that was filled it also went in his bag.

Straightening up, the Inuzuka grinned, "Okay, now for some other stuff." And he turned around in time to see Shikamaru smash a head.

Kiba groaned and grabbed his weapon; those Z's were so damn persistent!

* * *

><p>Naruto collapsed onto the main deck of Tokyo tower. "Oh. My. God, 'ttbayo!" He wheezed out, breathing hard.<p>

Suigetsu took a long gulp of air, "That's definitely going to be our training regimen."

Neji nodded, resting his hands on his knees, "Add some push and sit up and we'll be done."

"Torture!" Naruto groaned.

After finally finding stairs instead of the elevator, because they all knew it'd break down one day, they were all exhausted, having to literally _pull_ themselves up the last two flights. If they he wasn't feeling like a glob of Jell-O, Naruto'd be laughing his ass off.

Suigetsu dropped to the ground, having to find some pride deep inside himself in order not to kiss it. "Once we catch our breath," he gasped out, "We need to carve our names into the doors, and shut down the elevator."

He winced a bit at the last part, though he knew it had to be done. If the main way of entrance and exit was cut off, almost no one would come to the tower, even if they knew there were stairs. Being exhausted and having to fight Z's weren't two things people wanted to put together.

"Why?" Naruto groaned, rolling over on his side to look at the albino in horror.

"So civilians don't take it," Neji replied, shrugging his bag off, "Unpack, we'll fine the storage rooms and clear them out," he glanced around, "We should raid the back rooms, there must be a kitchen somewhere. And the snack bar should still have some food in it."

Suigetsu nodded, "Yeah, and the entire deck can be turned into a training center or something. And if we break open those look down thingies," Neji muttered the correct name, but it fell upon deaf ears, "We can get lots of coins. And there should be other snack machines we can raid with those, then steal all the money again."

"You're evil," Naruto said, pulling himself to his feet, "besides, wouldn't that make all the Z's come to the tower?"

Suigetsu's eyes widened, "Shit!" He shot to his feet, arm wrapping around his wooden stick as he frantically looked around.

The only smart one in the trio face-palmed, dragging his hand down his features in exasperation, they were both so stupid! "We're too high up for them to hear us," Neji explained, talking to them like one would explain the basics of hiragana to a toddler, "and if there are any still in the building, it's best we kill them then dispose of the bodies. The sound would be good."

Naruto blinked a few times, "Really, 'ttebayo." Neji slowly nodded, trying to rein in his annoyance. How did Sasuke deal with him?

The Uzumaki grinned his famous foxlike smile and let out a loud, ear shattering whoop, "Hell yeah!" he shouted, "Bring it on, I'll beat ass your rottin' asses today!"

Neji found it quite amusing when Suigetsu whacked the energized blond in the stomach with his stick, not even batting an eye as he started towards the vending machines.

* * *

><p>Temari trudged her way down the street, searching around for a combination of weird hair and eyes. The Sabaku winced as her palms throbbed again, and she gave a low, quite hiss; it was almost like they had their own pulse, except instead of beating, there'd be pain. Flexing them helped, so she had one gripping the strap of her bag and the other hugging tight to her pole.<p>

If she let go, her hands would feel like they were being stabbed. She couldn't do that, she was walking through masses of Z's, for Kami's sake! Any noise and she'd be dead.

Swinging and smashing while her arms and hands were tight as wire wasn't easy, and her movements would be too jerky to dodge and/or hit correctly.

A toddler bumped into her leg, and Temari mentally swore, stepping to the side. Bad idea. One, since it was such a quick motion, and her boots were heavy, it made a loud noise. Two, she stepped right into a businessman's chest.

Glancing up, Temari was met with eyes the color of milk. This time, she swore out loud. The blond let go of her strap, letting out a few more profanities at the pain, and place her other hand on her pole, charging forward through the crowd.

The end of the pole connected with some faces as she pushed Z's out of her way. Smack this and it'll topple to the ground, hit that and it's head will implode.

Temari couldn't help but smirk, even though she was in a dire situation. A day or two after the spread of the plague and she was practically an expert and what to crush and/or snap. She was kind of proud of herself.

_Now only if they didn't bleed… _she thought, ramming her pole into a kneecap and stepping to the side to smash another skull while the body crumples. Whacking a few more necks, the Sabaku made her way towards an ally, knowing that the masses couldn't get through.

One or two, maybe another one of those kids or a midget could squeeze in, but they'd be too slow, especially since it's where people, actually alive ones, too, were hiding out.

Jumping a school girl, who gaped at her, she raced down the small street, weaving in-between bodies.

A man jumped in front of her and she scowled, "Move it, I'm in a rush."

He grabbed her shoulder and shook her, "What are you doing!"

Temari narrowed her eyes and jammed her pole into his gut. He doubled over, couching and wheezing as she pushed past, "Surviving!" she yelled back, shoving an old lady out of her way. Near where the ally met the street, someone screamed.

* * *

><p>Ino blinked, "We have an extra futon," she pointed out. Sakura rolled her eyes, setting her own up.<p>

"Who cares, just keep it in the closet. There's only five of us anyways."

* * *

><p>Temari raced past a few more people and burst out onto another street. Smashing a few more heads, she let go of her pole and threw it towards a smaller group. Hands screaming in pain, she grabbed the railing of a stairwell and flipped herself up onto it.<p>

Taking the steps two at a time, she climbed the apartment building.

* * *

><p>Karin took a sip of the soup Hinata and TenTen made, "Thanks," she said, picking up a piece of carrot from the broth and shoving it in her mouth.<p>

It was the best she could do to express her gratitude.

* * *

><p>Temari turned up another flight and sprinted down a hall. Jumping a few dead corpses – they weren't moving, thank god – she started testing door handles. After the first five, she scowled and punched the space above the lock.<p>

Something jingled and she turned the knob, shoving the door open. Temari's teal orbs met white, blue, green, and two different shades of brown.

* * *

><p>Neji looked up from counting yen in time to see Sasuke drop Kiba onto the floor, having dragged the wolf-boy up the stairs by the collar.<p>

Suigetsu gaped, "He's alive?" Kiba's growl was muffled by the ground. Yes, he was very much alive. Along with in the mood for fish.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Did you seriously doubt my stitching skills?" Violet eyes darted to the side and the brunette sighed, "You're not the only one who knows first aid, Hozuki."

The albino grumbled something with at least five swears woven in. Quite frankly, none of the boys, save for the one still making out with the floor, thought that it was even a sentence, seeing as when they took the profanities out it was just random gibberish.

Kiba, though, understood the language perfectly and shot to his feet, baring his teeth at him. Family secrets be damned, he wasn't going to let a stupid little mermaid off with insulting him. "I would have definitely survived even without them!" He snapped, stomping over.

Grabbing Suigetsu by the scruff of the neck, he brought him close, "I don't know how your clan got brought into power when Tokyo's landlocked," he whispered, and Suigetsu's face went dark.

"You're not supposed to-" he started but Kiba cut him off.

"Let me tell you this," The Inuzuka snarled, "Before you're clan took charge, mine was the one who ruled the streets. You think you can survive? We won't have as much water based foods around anymore, let along two gallons for you to drink daily. At most you'll only have a half.

"I can survive with dry, canned food. When stuff like this plague happens, I'm most suited for it!" Kiba bared his teeth, letting his canines grow a bit.

Suigetsu grabbed the brunettes' wrist and pulled it away. Pushing back, he tugged his shirt down and glared at the chakra user, "But they don't know that," he said. "I'm the Yakuza's son in their eyes. To them, you're just a part of an animal loving family."

Kiba took a step forwards, ready to break any and all rules and just go crazy on him now. A hand on the shoulder and spike of chakra stopped him.

Suigetsu's eyes went wide for a few seconds, then softened a bit. A smile crept up his lips. Oh, this was going to be fun.

* * *

><p>Naruto cracked a smile, "You got anything to store?" Shikamaru and Sasuke both dropped bags on the ground while Kiba just raised an arm and gave him the Suigetsu the middle finger.<p>

The Uzumaki ignored the gesture and popped over, yanking the pack off his shoulders. Kiba let out another growl, this one a bit higher than the rest. "Shut up," Neji told him, "You're not a dog."

Suigetsu muffled a snicker with the back of his hand. Naruto took out some lunch boxes from his comrade's backpack. "Damn," he whistled, looking down into the contents of them, "This is good." He leaned over and grabbed Sasuke and Shikamaru's bags, gaping inside.

"I see some fruits and vegetables," he made a face, "A…knife set, fifty million things of cheese, some bottles – are those spices, 'ttebayo? – and," he blinked, "Seeds?"

"Yeah, dobe," Sasuke said, snatched his bag back, "We aren't going to be able to just run to the store and grab stuff anymore, this'll help."

Neji gave a smirk of approval, "Good idea."

"Hn."

Kiba sat up and raised a hand, "I also noticed the camping shop wasn't that touched. We should there soon, raid everything we can."

Shikamaru sighed, "It'll be troublesome, but we should head to the library too, maybe they have stuff on making preserves."

Neji nodded, "Okay, how about this; Nara goes with Inuzuka to that stop he mentioned and grabs what they can travel with. Take as many trips as you need to, food, blankets, and things to store with are our priorities. Also," he bit his lip, "If you want, get a few tents, we'd all like a bit of privacy."

Kiba chuckled a bit but nodded, while Shikamaru just sighed and muttered his favorite word.

"Uchiha and Hozuki can head to the library, get the books you need, take notes, do whatever. Naruto," he turned to the blond, who was still looking through bags, "You're with me, we're getting clothes. Everyone, empty out your bags into the closets and grab your weapons. And give us your sizes."


	10. Chapter 10: Setting Up

**A list of who knows, or who **_**you**_** know knows, about chakra and the goddesses so far; Karin, Suigetsu, Temari, Kiba, Gaara, Kankuro, Yuuri, Yuuri's family (the Haredi clan), and the clan heads and their spouses.**

* * *

><p>Ino blinked, then shot out of her chair. Her staff was in her hands in seconds even though she hadn't bent down to snatch it. Her feet pounded against the floorboards and she was jabbing forward before she knew it.<p>

Hinata stood just as fast as the Yamanaka, and was about to remind her that the girl was alive and definitely _not_ a Z, when the blond stopped mid-thrust and growled out a few, low words, "Get. Out. Now."

Now not a single person in the room who knew Ino had a single idea where that tone and menace came from. But when she twisted her staff and hissed out the words again, they knew she meant it.

The girl raised a hand and held it to her mouth, "Shhhhhhhh."

Groans sounded from behind the door and Karin erupted into quite, inaudible swears. She'd gotten through, damn, shit, hell, and fuck through three languages, she was bi-lingual, when the sounds went away.

"Pack up your stuff," she hissed, "Leave the food, eating fast won't help, we're moving to another complex." She turned to the new arrival, "You," she narrowed her eyes, "Tell me one thing you can do to help us or we're breaking your legs and leaving you hear for the Z's."

It was an empty threat, not a single person out of their group would be _that_ cruel. They hadn't adapted to be heartless…yet. But all five girls knew it would happen sooner or later.

And it could start with the person in front of them.

Temari ran through the hair and eye colors in her head for the fifth time. '_It's them,'_ she thought, '_no doubt about it_.' She bit her lip; Yuuri hadn't told her where it, err, they, was/were but… She took a breath, '_here goes nothing_.'

"I…," she started, then licked her dry lips. "I know a place, two actually, we can live in, like, seriously _live_ in. They're called Konoha and Suna."

* * *

><p>Yuuri and Daisuke had sorted all their differences out, at least that's what the adults thought, and were sitting in front of their father. Like most he had auburnblond hair, his was a mix, and grey eyes. Haredi Kaito stared down at his youngest daughter, "Yuuri, has the Sabaku been brought over?"

The teen smiled, "I have given her the Mark of the Cursed, and told her to find the clan heads. The boys are out of reach, over half of them know about how the clans came about, how we came about; they can't be drawn in. The girls, though," she smiled, "Don't know a thing. Karin will be a bit of a hazard, but she won't leave her friends."

The head of the Haredi clan nodded, "And the containers'?"

"The Ichibi jinchuriki is out of my reach; he has fled to Suna, and is currently the general of their forces. The Kyubi is with the Inuzuka and Hozuki heads, a Hyuga, though of the branch family, is there as well, keeping an eye on it. The Nara only knows about his clan, not the others, but he's quick to catch on. The Uchiha is also close with him."

Kaito stroked his chin, "But he has not activated his dojutsu yet, am I correct?"

Yuuri bit her lip, "He…he activated it at three, unconsciously, without any mishaps. As you know, it grows more commas with time, so…"

"So," Daisuke said, "He's at full strength," the boy sighed, "But, he doesn't know how to use it, or that he has it, we can use that to our advantage. Lure him in, and stuff."

"Not exactly," the door slid open and the kids' sister walked in. Haredi Suzu was eighteen years of age, and though she had been diagnosed with leukemia years ago, still had all of her hair, which happened to be dyed green at the moment. Her eyes were a pale, almost white, grey.

She bowed low to her father and closed the door behind her, taking a seat next to her siblings. "Daisuke, what do you know about the Uchiha?" she asked, pushing her skirt under her as she folded her legs.

"They have the Sharingan, one of the four powerful dojustsu. Unlike the Yamanaka's Aoimoku and the Uzumaki's Rinnegan, it's can't move things with the users mind. It's similar to the Hyuga's Byakugan; however, it only had two things it can do."

"And they are?"

"Predict and copy movements."

Kaito sighed and shook his head, "Textbook answer. Son, there's a reason why the Uchiha's are one of the Sisters top three clans."

Yuuri turned to her brother, grinning like the maniac she was, "Have you ever heard of the Mangekyo?"

* * *

><p>Shikamaru watched in fascination as Kiba stored another tent in a sealing scroll, "How did you know they had some?" he asked.<p>

The Inuzuka glanced up at him, "This place doesn't sell bug-spray." Shikamaru blinked. Kiba sighed, "You really don't know much. The Aburame are the closest to Yushkep, they're descendants of her, so they worship bugs, Kidaichū, is what they're called. You know Shino freaked out that one time when a girl killed a spider?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "He's from a clan?"

Kiba snorted, shoving the scroll in his bag along with some rations, "Okay, I'm going to tell you a lot of things, so listen, got it?"

"Troublesome."

"Pauchi is the goddess of insanity. She fooled around with five poor humans and _boom_, the first mortal chakra users. They each named their new clans for their powers. The Uchiha's name is taken from uchiwa fan. When they unlocked the final stage of their dojutsu, they could control flames, and the fan fans flames so… yeah."

"Cliché," Shikamaru said, looking through some sleeping bags.

"I know. The Nara, your clan, is named after the head of the country at the time. It was the dark ages, and shadows are powerful at night, they were the most powerful back then, that's how the name came about."

"I already knew that."

"Well I'm just listing what I know, so shut up! The Haruno's…. have extremely good chakra control, so good, in fact, that they could sue it to precisely make several cells and shit grow. Long story short, using that, they were able to make spring come early, that's where the 'haru' part came in. The 'no' is so it can be used with their names. You know Sakura, right? Well think of it like Sakura of Spring. They're trying to say that they can still do what they used to.

"Sabaku means desert, and they usual have some kind of mineral or magnet release, such as iron, gold, or some kind of gem. The first Sabaku, though, was able to use sand, so that's how it started. The Inuzuka, my clan, kind of…um," he scratched his cheek, "We're where werewolves came about."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yeah, so, um, Hill of Dogs, yeah, pretty simple, we can transform, along with summon wolf spirits. Anyways, that's about it. The rest are from Yushkep, who sent her spiders to bite people and inject them with her power. She then chose what things the clans would be able to do and named them."

"Better than Pauchi…" A jolt ran down The Nara's spine and he sighed, "I have a feeling I'm doomed now."

"You probably are."

He ran a through his hair, as best as he could with his ponytail, "Troublesome."

"You'll get off easy," Kiba added, hoisting the bag over his shoulder, "She loves your clan, says that besides the Haruno's, you are the only ones that have her traits."

"And those are?" he asked as they made their way out of the shop, dropping his voice a bit.

"Laziness and short fuses." he chuckled, "she sends us messages every once in a while."

"Like?"

"Like scrolls that tell us stuff. So, um, the Hyuga, um, they're name, 'a place in the sun/towards the sun,' it's supposed to mean that they'll try to please Yushkep as much as possible. The man she had her black-widow bite, he was the owner of a failing dojo.

"He wanted everyone to be able to defend themselves. Yushkep saw it as honorable and gave him power. His descendants forgot about the hard times they went through and became consider, though." He sighed.

"They separate the family into 'branch' and 'main.' Neji's a part of the former; his forehead is always covered because of the seal placed on him. No one can take his eyes, but he can't defy any orders. If they told him to hang himself, they seal would activate, and he'd do it. Sad, really."

Kiva shook his head, "Pauchi says that Yushkep often complains about them, she deities, too. The Uzumaki are like us. They have a dojustsu, but only one in ten get it.

"They have lots and lots of chakra, a gift from Yushkep, who saw their kindness and hoped that they'd use it to aid the length of their lives in order for them to keep helping people. She said Uzumaki, which can divert to whirlpool, was the prayer that their open hearts would go on forever."

"It certainly has," Shikamaru commented, thinking of a certain loudmouthed blond.

"Yep." They turned a corner, "The Hozuki were mercenaries who lived by the water. Besides the Akimichi, they were the only ones who were a clan beforehand. The name means 'demon lanterns' and she hoped that even though they were like her sister, insane, basically, she hoped they would light the way for others. The Yakuza actually honor that, and even though they are seen as the bad guys, they only take out other bad guys, it's frustrating."

"Suigetsu…" Shikamaru said. "That's the reason he hasn't left us."

Kiba snorted, "Besides the fact that he doesn't want to lose to me, yeah, that's why."

He sighed, "That's so troublesome, being villainized even though they mean good."

The Inuzuka shrugged, "They have lots of honor. The Akimichi were a wealthy family, with lots and lots of food, daily, they would invite homeless in to eat, they'd give peasants meat, bread, and wine. The name was created by them for that reason, since it can be split up into autumn, harvest season, and street, where they gave things away."

"Choji _is_ unnaturally kind," Shikamaru added, "I wonder how they're all doing."

"Everyone has prepared for apocalypses, there are other chakra users outside of the Sisters clans, not all gods are selfish."

"I guess." They arrived at the tower, looking up the stairs, "This is going to be a pain."

Kiba rolled his eyes, "The Aburame… no one knows how the name came about. They're very secretive, their love for bugs is the only thing most people know about them."

They stepped onto the first landing and Shikamaru groaned out another troublesome before starting up the steps, "Yamanaka, 'middle of the mountain,' Pauchi hoped that with the power of Aoimoku they'd be able to understand others reasoning, get into the center of things, and dispel problems. Those are the clans."

"You talked about other clans," Shikamaru huffed, "What are they? "

"There's the Ōtsutsuki, the Kaguya, the Sarutobi, the Senju, the Yuki, and the Haredi clans."

The Nara sighed, "Why do I have a feeling someone from a clan started all this?"

* * *

><p>Kiba grinned, "Okay, now for the names."<p>

Shikamaru looked up from sorting out their stuff to find seven dark grey tents set up in the lobby of Tokyo Tower. The Inuzuka was writing people's names on the first six in sharpie, the characters big enough to read from the stairwell. The seventh had 'medical tent' bubbled on it.

Kiba placed the cap back on the marker and stepped back, admiring his work. A second later he snatched up some sleeping bags and disappeared into the grey flaps, the sound of him unrolling the fabric onto the floor filling up the landing.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and got up, lugging a few boxes from the snack-bar. Setting them down next to the others with a huff (he was just tired, they weren't even heavy), he began sorting food into them.

* * *

><p>Banana's in here, apples in there, chips in that one, bars in this one, ramen cups over there. It was a boring process, Shikamaru just wanted to play shogi.<p>

Naruto grinned down at the box he'd found in the back room of a department store. Pulling it open, he yanked out five long sleeved tee's, still folded, thank god, and stuffed them into the giant, mesh bag he'd found.

It was already filled with jeans, shirts, jackets, and even hoodie's he'd stumbled upon in the clearance section. And the best thing was, the bag wasn't even halfway full. Ripping off the top flaps of the bow, he shoved them into his backpack, and made his way to the next box.

The best thing he'd found out was that they were all the same sizes. So he didn't even have to move from row to row to find things, just keep going down the same isle and pick things out.

Leaning up on his tip-toes, the Uzumaki snatched another box off one of the higher shelves. He dropped it to the ground with a thud, the place was Z free, and teared it open. He grinned, 'jeans!' After double checking some of the sized, he stuffed them into the bag.

Across the way, Neji was filling his own bag with packages of socks and underwear. He also had gloves, hats, and scarves in it as well. His backpack was filled to the brim with soap, hand and body kind, and other toiletries. Hand sanitizer was stuffed in the side pockets of the pack, and the small compartments were bursting with hair ties, both had and Shikamaru needed them, they weren't cutting their hair any time soon.

Neji threw the last of his materials into his bag and shrugged it onto his shoulder. "Naruto!" he called, raising his voice a bit. A few seconds passed and the Uzumaki skidded around a corner, saluting the older teen," "Yes, sir?"

Neji sighed, shaking his head, "Come on, let's go."

"Got it, 'ttebayo," he answered heading towards the door with a skip in his step. "How do ya think the others are doing, 'ttebayo."

"No idea," _'they're probably thanking me for pairing them with someone else.'_

* * *

><p>Sasuke glanced from the shelf to his notes, scratching a few more lines down in his notebook. They couldn't bring everything back, so they'd go day by day, the library was far, it took them over an hour to just get there, and the sun was starting to set.<p>

He glanced back up at the medical tomes, jotting down more of the names, numbers, and authors. They'd already gotten what they needed from the farming section, basically two books on basics, but they needed specific stuff on certain foods.

Onyx eyes darted back and forth; there were over forty volumes, all on the basics of medical knowledge. They needed them, even if it was just for reference.

Suigetsu darted towards him from the bathroom, zipping up his bag, he'd already swiped all the soap he could from the library, he'd also stolen around ten water bottles and filled a few reusable ones up as well. Not to mention took a fifteen minute long drink from the water fountain.

He'd go for even longer but…

"Oi, Uchiha," he said, voice low and gravelly, he needed to get more water, Inuzuka was right, he wouldn't last long, "Get crackin', people are coming."

Sasuke swore and quickly grabbed the books he needed, weight be damned, no one else would get them! He shoved them into his pack, zipping and shouldering the bag as he made his way towards the stairs.

They slipped through shelves, not wanting them to see where they were, "Tomorrow," Sasuke whispered, "We're coming back early, leave at five, get here at six. We need to make at least two trips to get what we absolutely need."

"Yeah, yeah," the Hozuki rasped, subconsciously putting a hand to his throat, "Just hurry up, princess."

Sasuke gave a quite snort as turned to go down the first, err, second, flight. There was a scream. Two, actually, one from behind them, the other from the lower level. "Shit!" Suigetsu swore. He grabbed a dictionary off its pedestal, tossed it up and bit, and threw it over the railing with all his might. He didn't wait around to see if the Z's flocked to it.

Grabbed Sasuke by the strap of his bag he pulled him along and through the top floor of the city library. "What the –?!" the Uchiha whisper shouted, "Hozuki! Let," he grabbed the boys hand and ripped it from the strap, "Go!" he huffed. "Okay, where are we going?"

"Fire escape," he said, making his way towards a window. Opening it, he looked down and smirked. He turned, placing a hand on the sill, "See ya' on the flip side, princess." And he jumped.

Sasuke rushed over, peering out the square hole. Violet eyes, filled to the brim with mischief, stared back up, "Come on, Uchiha," he said, going down to rungs at a time.

Sasuke watched, wide eyed as he made his way down the latter, "_This_ is a fire escape?"

"It's old-school, not get your scrawny ass down here!"

He didn't have to be told twice, adjusting his bag again as he stepped out the window. Staring down as he took the first few steps, it was about half a meter away from the bottom of the window; he started on the first rung, gripping the sill.

'_Hozuki must have latched onto a rung when he jumped,'_ he thought. There was no way he'd have been able to survive if he didn't.

Glancing up, Sasuke was met with milky eyes. His ground his teeth, trying to bite back a gasp. It came out more like a strangled cry, instead.

Suigetsu stared up with him, "Crap."

Sasuke leaned back a bit, and the Z opened its mouth, strongly of saliva connecting its teeth from top to bottom. There was a bit of blood on the back of its tongue, and flesh was stuck between its pearly whites.

"Sasuke!" Suigetsu snapped, "Get away!"

So the Uchiha did the one thing he'd learned from dealing with Naruto, he reared his arm back and socked the corpse it in face. It snapped back into the building and he grabbed the inside of the window, yanking it down just enough to the Z couldn't get through.

Retracting his arm, he scampered down the escape, Suigetsu right below him. Five rungs away, the Hozuki jumped to the ground. Two rungs above that, Sasuke leapt, too. Hitting the cement, they shared a look, nodded, before sprinting down the street, weaving through the back alleys.

They hopped and/or step-sided dead bodies, shoes pounded against the pavement.

Sasuke made a sharp turn, almost ramming into a group of girls running their way down the street as well. Suigetsu was right behind him, and he pushed his way through their little huddles mass.

Onyx met emerald, and for a split-second, Sasuke's vision was glued to one of the girls, and time seemed to slow down. It felt like he'd been staring in the viridian for years, watching as the black, ink like dot in the middle slowly, slowly grew smaller.

"Keep going!" The connection, which had seemed stronger than steel, snapped like a brittle piece of bark. He kept running, the fuzz that had crept up in the back of his head dispersing like a cloud of steam. Suigetsu swore from behind him, and the footsteps grew louder, the smacks faster and harder, he was trying to get away from them.

A shrill voice called after them: "Hold it! Suigetsu! Get back here you bastard!"

* * *

><p>All six of the females sprinted down the streets of Tokyo, "So," Ino huffed, "How old… are you? We're …all twelve…except…for Sakura….and TenTen….Sakura is," she breathed in a bit, and hissed, the sharp intake hurting her lungs.<p>

"I-Ino-c-chan….you-you shouldn't talk….. wh-while running," Hinata breathed out, face as red as Karin's hair.

The Yamanaka brushed her comment aside, "Sakura's….thirteen…Tennie's…fourteen."

"…Sixteen," Temari huffed out.

TenTen jumped over a puddle of blood, but the back of her sneakers caught it. The red liquid splashed all up the back of her legs.

Karin laughed, "It…it splattered…your butt…ahahaha!"

"TenTen," Sakura said, not even sounding winded, "Try not to make Karin laugh, she's next to last in the endurance department."

"And….who's last?" Temari asked. Everyone was silent, but Hinata raised a hesitant hand. "Ohhh."

Ino clamped the Hyuga on the shoulder, "Don't worry, where Temari-sans taking us, we'll be fine. ANBU, you say?" The Sabaku nodded.

Sakura sighed, "So it's been around for a while." Karin's eyes darkened a bit.

The sounded of loud footsteps broke all of their own, and around the corner burst a teen, another right behind him.

Karin's face lit up in recognition. "Sui!"

The albino shouted two words, and for once, they weren't 'hey, bitch.' "Keep going!" And the one in front of him did.

Sakura blinked and all the girls kept running, past the two males, past the dark eyed boy she'd been staring at, past the corner they'd been planning to go around. They kept running and running, unaware of the Z's rumbling behind the teens.

Karin stopped in her tracks, boot/sneakers making a dry, scratching noise as she turned, "Hold it! Suigetsu! Get back here you bastard!" Temari grabbed her by the collar of her jacket, pulling her along as the others darted down a side-street.

"Let go of me!" She snapped, ripping her arm from the leather. She ran with her group, but her mind was still on the corner, still there, still thinking about the boy that reminded her it wasn't _only_ her fault thousands were dead.


	11. Chapter 11: The Start - Part One

**Idea for this chapter is from OblivionIsOnlyInevitable, who was not only my first reviewer, but my most constant reviewer. Also, thanks to , who, despite the language barrier, was nice enough to leave a review. **

**And just to let you know, the conversation about the girl being sent to the Naruto-verse in chapter five, that was a reference to Spider Thread by blackcatgirl. Now, I don't know how Tomoe was reincarnated after she died, but I do know she's badass and you need to read the story. **

**Seriously. Like, ditch this chapter now and read it, just come back and review. **

**Also, question; should I do a Q/A every chapter? Anyways, here's chapter eleven! Sorry for the long A/N!**

She stared down at the marble in front of her. _'Black, black, fleck of purple, black, black, black, slight bit of silver, black, black, black, small hint of red, black, black, black, a few hues of dark blue, black, black, black, black, bla –' _

"Sakura!"

The pinkette turned towards the voice, _'…blue.'_ For the first time in two hours, Haruno Sakura's mind left the image of deep, black eyes. "Yes, Ino?"

"You've been washing your hands for ten minutes," the Yamanaka stated.

Sakura blinked and glanced down at the water that was running over her cupped palms, trickling down into the cracks between her fingers. It was so similar to her life right now, it wasn't even funny.

"Oh," the Haruno said, shaking out of her stupor and turning the faucet off, "sorry,"

Ino tossed her a towel, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied, snatching the projectile out of the air and waving the concern off.

"It's the _apocalypse_," the blond stated, "No one is '_fine_' anymore." She spat out the word in the same tone she used when she complained about split ends, though those were the least of her problems anymore.

"Well, I am," Sakura said, throwing the towel to the ground once she was done with it. It connected with a soft smack, the ends cracking against the bathrooms tile like a whip. The sound hung in the air as the two girls glared at each other. Sakura gave a loud grunt of annoyance and stormed past Ino, shoving her way through the doorway.

The Yamanaka sighed and scooped the towel up. She stared at it for a few seconds before guffawing and chucking it towards the small tub shower tucked in the corner. She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, not even noticing the small cracks in the floor where the fabric had hit when Sakura threw it…or the fact that the said fabric raised up behind her, floating like a little balloon.

TenTen stared at the two girls sitting on opposite ends of the room and sighed, slouching down in her chair, "This is so not the time for fighting," she murmured, before exhaling again, this time sounding a bit more exasperated.

"This happen often?" Temari asked, taking a seat next to the orphan.

"Yeah," she replied, not even turning her head to acknowledge the girls presence, "Those two…they've been friends for the longest time," she snorted, "They could write a two thousand page memoir on each other's lives, excluding all the embarrassing moments."

"Oh?" Temari raised an eyebrow, "But if they're so close, how'd they get with you guys? Why not stay in their little two person click?"

TenTen chuckled, "They were five when they met. Sakura…never had any confidence, she was always getting bullied for her forehead."

"It is kind of big," the Sabaku said.

"Yeah, it is. Anyways, Ino came along and was kind of like a light for her, I want to be like that, I can be beautiful. Once she grew confident about her facial features, she got teased about her hair. They were six, first day of kindergarten, Ino was in the bathroom, Sakura was getting her hair yanked, this one girl, Ami, was about to cut it. Hinata interfered, and she was glued to them ever since, Ino saw her as a brave princess.

"Sakura decided to grow her hair out. Ino said boys loved long hair, Hinata said that if she made her locks pretty, everyone would like them. They made quite a trio. Ino wanted attention, Sakura wanted beauty, Hinata wanted acknowledgement. At seven, first grade, they met Karin. Karin wanted friends, she wanted people who wouldn't leave her, people that loved her. At eight, second grade, they found me, a third grader, during recess."

TenTen laughed, shaking her head, "We'd play all the time, stay after school, hang out in the summer. Up the sixth grade, we were inseparable, us five. Even when I started seventh grade in a separate building, even when I was first year, and they were in elementary school, we were the best of friends."

"What happened," Temari asked.

"Middle school, Haredi Yuuri, she…recruited Karin, said she had the right material. She started to hang out less and less with us, though she found time, and it was the same, she was just busy. In the second semester, Yuuri moved to America, and Karin…Karin became the new queen bee. Everyone loved her, everyone needed her, that's what they told her. They said we didn't want her to be with anyone else.

"For the longest time," TenTen explained, "She didn't believe them. But, everything got to her. She cut her ties with us, she became vain and rude."

The brunette sighed, dropping her chin into her palm, "The 'end of the world' brought us back together, though it'll probably tear us apart."

Temari blinked, and a smile crept up on her face. She laughed. And laughed and laughed and laughed. Pushing off her chair, she walked around until she was in front of TenTen. "Don't worry about it, kid." She grinned one of those smile grins, the ones where you know something's wrong. Ino called them a 'rape face', actually.

"Might as well go out with a bang if you're gonna go out at all."

TenTen stared, and snorted. Pulling herself to her feet, she clamped Temari on the shoulder, "I like you."

Suzu glanced down at her younger sister, "Are you sure about this, giving her the co-ordinates."

Yuuri rolled her eyes, "I need her for the plan, Dai, do it."

Daisuke stared up at the middle sibling, "She can't sense chakra, nee-chan, she can't even see it, transferring the information will hurt her brain. She'll have a migraine for at least a day. And any hint of chakra on her will burn."

Yuuri just chuckled and ruffled her brothers' hair, "Silly otouto, haven't you learned that the best of leaders rule with fear?"

The next day, all six girls trudged along the street. Temari had woken up with a scream in the middle of the night, and they'd all freaked out, thinking a Z had gotten in. The older teen had apologized many times over, though each was brushed off with a wave of a hand. As long as the girl was fine, they were fine.

"Are you sure it's this way?" Sakura asked, her voice barely audible.

"More like are you sure we'll still be safe there?" Ino added.

"And how can we be sure they'll be enough to go around?" TenTen questioned.

Hinata glanced down to the ground, biting her lip. Temari could tell that she wanted to say something, somehow add in her own concerns. She stayed quite though, along with Karin, who kept rubbing her abdomen and wincing every once in a while.

Temari ran through any and all things she'd heard from the girl, along with how she acted and what her last name was. She made her decision, and lifted her chin higher. "Why don't you ask the one who knows the answers?"

Ino snorted, "You?"

"Oh, I only know half, truthfully, I only found out a bit ago. No, I mean the one who hasn't talked the entire trip."

Karin looked up, eyes blazing, "What if I didn't want to attract the Z's?"

"They aren't here!" Temari bit back sharply, "And Hinata hasn't talked ether, why'd you respond?"

Her mouth slammed shut, face burning. "She has a point, though," Sakura said, coming to the girls rescue.

"We've been loud for a while; they're not going to pop around the corner like it's a horror movie. One of us isn't going to suddenly get hurt. Another isn't going to go back. Both of them aren't going to die. The remainder aren't going to cover their mouths, morn their friend for a split second, then run away with music in the background."

TenTen rolled her eyes, "Wow, dramatic much."

The Sabaku just grinned, "Only going off knowledge I know, sweetie."

Ino narrowed her eyes, "You sure are pushing it, bitch," she hissed out, "We've barely even met you, why shouldn't we just kill you now." Her blue orbs flashed and her pole was already in her hands, lunging forwards.

Temari step-sided the strike, grabbed the girls arm and tugged it up. Ino gave a loud cry, trying to muffle the sound as best as she could. The Yamanaka's fellow blond threw her back down and kept going with her questions, "Seriously, Karin, why _did_ you respond."

The Uzumaki tried to respond, only getting out a single 'I' before she was cut off, "Why did _your_ eyes go wide when I mentioned Konoha?" Temari asked, "Why did you just bite you lip when I said it again, why are you acting like this? Do you know? Did you know all along?"

"Did I know what?!" she snapped, her voice bouncing off the buildings. Everyone looked alarmed, and Hinata threw her finger up to her mouth, trying to shush the girl, but Karin was on a roll.

"Did I know that all of us here have the ability to use damn chakra?! Did I know exactly what TenTen's shitty heritage was? Did I know Ino's hellish powers have been developing for a while? Did I know that as soon as Sakura uses her she'll slowly go bat-shit insane?!"

She huffed and straightened up a bit, tugging her jacket down. She held her head high, despite the tears the brimmed her tear-ducts, "I knew. Yes, I'll admit! I fucking knew that all of us! All goddamn fucking five us of have retched blood running through us! I know that I'm going insane. I know that you are, too!"

Her breathing was erratic, and she fell to the ground, clutching her sides. TenTen rushed to her side, but the redhead kept babbling.

"I know how the Z's work. I know they can't be stopped. I know about Konoha. I know about Suna. I know about Iwa, and Kumo, and Kiri, and Kusa, and Ame, and Yuki, and Taki. I know about all of them, I know about the gods, I know about the clans, I know how the Z's came about and how they work. I-I-I-"

Karin collapsed to the ground, her eyes having rolled up into her head. TenTen caught her head in time and Hinata rushed towards them.

Bending down, she felt for the girls pulse. A second passed. Then another. And another and another and another. All breath was held until Hinata gave a sigh of relief, everyone else following.

Temari looked around her, suddenly aware of what she'd done. Ino picked herself up off the ground, winding her arm a bit. She stared at Temari for a few seconds, then turned around and walked towards Sakura.

Hinata helped TenTen hoist Karin up, throwing her arms over their shoulders. The moans and groans of Z's filled the air, and the four remaining girls of the original group looked at each other. Expressions were exchanges, until, finally, Ino sighed and hung her head.

Sakura turned to Temari, "You're still with us, but only for answers. Karin's the leader of our group, she decides if you stay."

And with that, they all stormed away from the walking corpses and towards safety. Temari trudged behind them.

Karin hung her head as she finished explain the basics of chakra and the goddesses, not really going that into anything. She didn't know how much Temari knew, and she didn't want to give the girl any extra information.

Ino blinked, "I have superpowers?" Sakura's hand flew up to her forehead so fast; no one realized she'd face-palmed until they heard the 'smack.'

They were traveling again, this time at a faster pace. Temari had been…redeemed, kind of. Karin had, surprisingly, stuck up for the girl, for unknown reasons. The redhead explained that most that come from a clan but don't possess the ability to control or even _detect_ chakra are known to seek more answers.

It was proven true, as she'd demonstrated manipulating the blue energy, explaining how it worked; yet it all passed over Temari's head. When the girls reached inside and felt theirs, the blond was stuck scrunching up her eyes and sucking in her stomach to the point where she could barely breathe.

Nothing came to light in her mind. At. All.

The rest of the group had watched as she searched for five minutes, then ten, then twenty. At thirty, Temari had let out a loud grunt/groan/grumble – okay, it was just a really aggravated sigh that had a few rumbles in it, – and dropped back to the ground with an 'I give up.'

Of course, it didn't mean she was forgiven. In fact, Ino was currently giving her the stink eye. The blond had been glaring at her fellow woman for most of the trip. The only times she stopped were when they had to fight some Z's.

But even then, she had an eye on the girl. She didn't trust her. Ino didn't give a crap if Temari was a goddess herself, she basically given her friend a verbal smack-down. She'd also thrown the Yamanaka down onto asphalt, which wasn't really a good way to make friends.

Ino's scowl deepened, and Hinata couldn't help but inch away from the girl a bit. She didn't want to risk talking, knowing that Ino would be very loud when angry. The Hyuga rubbed her ear a bit, remembering the time when she and the other girls were stuck in the middle of one of Ino and Sakura's fights.

Which normally only escalated after almost a half an hour of screaming their lungs off at each other. TenTen never left home without earplugs or headphones after that.

Hinata took a breath, dug down deep, trying to find some courage, and took a step forward, "I-Ino-chan–" she started, only for three things to happen at the same time. Karin stopped, Sakura cursed, and TenTen flipped her bat up, catching it then swinging it to the side.

Hinata gasped, taking a few steps back. Ino's voice got caught in her throat, and any words she tried to say came out as a strangled sound. Temari just bent down and scooped up a bit chunk of sidewalk that had somehow broken off.

Hinata gaped at the sheer number Z's in front of her, loosing track after hitting twenty. "W-What?" she asked, stumbling back even farther.

"It's chakra," Karin bit out, mimicking the girls actions. "The virus has something to do with it."

"And what," TenTen asked, "Does that mean for us?"

"Doom," Sakura responded, pulling her sword out of its sheath, "The majority of us have it, we're like a beacon to them."

"But I'm not from a clan!" the brunette snapped.

"The Sisters aren't the only gods," Karin explained, closing her eyes, "The Kaguya, Senju, Yūhi, Hatake, Sarutobi – all of them don't have any blood similar to ours. But they can still use chakra."

"You can lecture later," Temari said, "Chakra or no chakra, clan or no clan, we have two choices; flight or fight." she glanced at the redhead, "What's your decision?"

"Fight." Karin's eyes snapped open, and she looked around. _'D-Did I just say that?'_

Sakura didn't even blink. She charged, tossing her sheath into her right hand. Before anyone could even tell her to stop, she'd already smashed a head and severed a brain stem. The pinkette ignored the blood that splattered onto her cheek and dropped to the ground.

Swiping her leg around in a circle, she tripped three Z's and popped back to her feet. She quickly stomped two of the corpse's heads and slashed across the back of the lasts' neck. The Haruno flipped her sheath around to get a better hold on it.

She stomped onto the ground and propelled herself forward, punching a Z in the face with her right hand and plunging her blade into the one behind her. She whirled around, pulling her sword up as she spun.

There was a loud rip, and her entire left side was drenched in blood from the shoulder down. The Z dropped to the ground, half of its abdomen flopping down next to it.

Out of the rest of the girls, someone gave a battle cry, and they all rushed forwards.

Ino smacked her pole into a Z's temple, then spun around and crouched low. Not even a second later, she'd pierced right through a second corpses neck. She lifted it up, arms trembling under its weight, and threw it towards another group.

Adjusting her grip, Ino lunged forwards, spinning her pole above her head and bringing it down around her. Flipping the rod around in her hand, she slashed upwards across a Z's face. Once it stumbled back a bit, Ino swooped the bottom of her pole under its feet.

The Z fell to the ground with a loud thump, its head smashing open against the pavement. Ino pivoted again, and stabbed her spear through another Z's eye, right into its brain. Quickly yanking the weapon out, she flipped it up in her hands and smashed another's head.

TenTen smashed a Z's head, whirled around, and slammed Smasher down onto another's neck. She didn't look to see it fall, already moving on towards the next victim. Raising her leg, she kicked a Z in the stomach, and brought Smasher down onto its forehead. Pushing off from its abdomen, TenTen flipped up and smashed her bat down onto another skull.

Sliding to the side, she brought Smasher over her head, then thrust it down on top of a fourths head. It exploded like a watermelon, blood and gore raining down on the orphan in front of it. TenTen wiped some of the red-liquid out of her eyes and ran for the next Z.

Temari ducked down under a Z's arm and popped back up, slamming the chunk of asphalt into its face. There was a crunching sound as its features collapsed in on themselves. Temari kneed the dead body in the gut, pushing it away as she charged towards another.

She dropped to the ground, skidding between a Z's legs. Flipping up behind it, she smashed the slab on top of its head. Donkey-kicking it back towards a group near Sakura, Temari pivoted, roared, and thrust the rock into the back of a third Z's neck.

Karin flipped upwards. Arching her body towards the ground and looking down, she found four Z's awaiting her. The redhead righted herself mid-air, then tucked all her limbs in, shooting back down towards one of the corpses.

Her feet slammed into its lower back. Karin grit her teeth, trying to ignore both the jolt that shot up her legs and the pain in her abdomen. Raising her arm, the Uzumaki smashed her elbow into the back of the Z's neck, breaking the brain stem.

No longer in control of its body, the Z fell to the ground. Karin stepped of the corpses back and curled her fingers into the top of her palms. Rearing her arm back, Karin thrust the bottom of her palm into a second Z's nose.

It flopped backwards onto the asphalt. Spinning around, the girl raised her leg up and kneed the third in the temple and broke the fourths nose like she did for the second.

Hinata dashed for the stairs closest to them, taking the steps two at a time. Once she reached the top, the Hyuga threw herself onto the railing, hooking her feet into the spaces between the bars. She grabbed her bow off her back and quickly nocked an arrow.

Pulling the drawstring back to the corner of her mouth, she raised her elbow a bit. _There!_ Her fingers loosened and the arrow shot forward, slashing across the back of a Z's neck. It smacked into the ground near Temari, who quickly yanked it out and inspected it.

The blond shoved it in her bag, trying to salvage it for later use. Hinata had a newfound respect for the girl. Grabbing a new arrow out of the quiver strapped to her thigh, she nocked it and let go a few seconds later. It soared straight towards a Z's head and found a home in the corpse's temple.

It truly was a marvelous sight. Full of blood and gore? Yes. Were some of the girls grinning like madwomen? Uhh, _yeah_. But the beauty was that they worked like a well-oiled machine.

Those who were in trouble or were surrounded were helped by Ino. If the bodies weren't fully taken care of, Temari would get rid of them. Sakura created gaps the others could move in and TenTen would make sure Hinata was safe from her perch. The Hyuga would guard everyone's backs. Karin shouted out orders, assessing the surroundings for escape routes.

It was all going well, extremely well, too well. No matter how well the mechanism was made, there would always be some kind of problem. That, or multiple malfunctions.

Hinata reached for another arrow, only to find her quiver was empty. TenTen overstepped and rolled her ankle. Sakura's sword cracked. Temari's slab of rock split in two. Karin's blow didn't hit a Z correctly, and it threw her to the ground. The end of Ino's pole snapped off.

Well, crap.


End file.
